


Frenemies

by OverlordAvery



Category: Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency (TV 2016)
Genre: Also sex as of chapter 5, Angst, Attempted Murder, Drama, M/M, Murder, Other, Priest Brother's Theory, There's gonna be, Treason, Violence, a lot of in fighting because like everyone is just; "Priest no" while Priest is just; "Priest Yes, and as usual I will post warnings for every chapter so y'all know what you're in for, enemy to forced friend type of situation is going to be going on, shenanigans no one is prepared for
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-18
Updated: 2018-11-04
Packaged: 2019-06-12 12:27:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 13
Words: 127,686
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15339870
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OverlordAvery/pseuds/OverlordAvery
Summary: Sent out on a hunt Osmund Priest finds himself in a life or death situation and decides to take help that is offered to him by a man he thought was dead. He ends up in the “raw end” of a deal and now has to work for Hugo Friedkin who is laying out a path which leads to him being a man wanted for Treason and the unwanted but very much needed, body guard for Dirk, Todd, and Farah.





	1. Devil's in the Details

**Author's Note:**

> **Characters** : Osmund Priest. Rowdy 3. Amanda Brotzman. Hugo Friedkin. Ken Adams. Bart Curlish. OC’s. Farah Black.  
>  **Warnings** : Priest Brother’s. Violence Mention. Branding. Murder. Priest’s POV.  
>  **Note** : Eldritch Horror Hugo does not play around… yet he’s also still dumb… you gotta love this guy.  
> And Priest just regrets so many life decisions.  
> Also you guys get like a better glimpse at his crew and his relationship with his crew. And falling into headcanons of what he’s done in previous retirement.  
>  **PS** : Those that read the Prompt that started this it’s basically the same in the beginning with a few little fixes to words I messed up on and didn’t notice originally. The new stuff starts after the line; This was going to be fun.  
>  **PPS** : This is another one that will probably take a while to get more chapters out. But I have wanted to write this for so long now so I’m just biting the bullet lmao
> 
> INFO ON PRIEST'S CREW AND RONDA IN END NOTES

Incubus was always a challenging fight, not so much challenging hunt given as they were never discreet so finding them was easy. Capturing them on the other hand… Luckily he had the knockout gas to use to his advantage which made the fight a little more manageable. He managed to get Vogel, Cross, and Gripps down, although challenging he deemed them as no longer an issue and focused on Martin and Amanda. Surprisingly Miss Brotzman was giving him more trouble than Incubus was, then again that little wand of hers didn’t help, and during the fight Beast managed to jump on him and mess up the canister, knocking herself out, and almost him till he managed to get it off. Only to get tackled by Martin who he fought with till he ended up backing up and his foot hit a ledge, he could feel himself falling until the man caught him by the front of his shirt. Worry in the man’s eyes mixed in with the anger, Priest couldn’t stop his giggle seeing if they were on the other end he might actually let the man fall. Wondered how interesting that would be… how Incubus would act without their leader. Priest slowly dragged his tongue over his bottom lip before smiling smugly at him.

“You’re not going to kill me.” Priest stated it bluntly, looking to Martin who was really the only thing keeping him from falling off the roof. He couldn’t stop his smile and his giggle from the look of conflict in Martin’s eyes, both of them looking worse for wear from the fight they just had. Martin’s hands were shaking in rage shoving him back more but not letting him go, just holding him so he was leaning backwards off the roof. Feet planted as much as they could be to try and prevent himself from plummeting to his death should Martin actually let go. “Or you finally grow the balls to be like me?” And that was all Martin needed to actually pull him up into a standing position, stopping him from a near death experience.  

“Martin!” Which unfortunately his safety didn’t last when he saw Martin side step and a bright light of something coming towards him.  

“Shit-” Priest tried to dodge to the side but it snagged him, the hot, painful, gust of brightly colored wind from Amanda’s damn wand and he was falling off the roof. He turned his head to the side, glancing down at the long way he had to go till he hit the ground. Wondered briefly if this was it, if this was actually how he died, because his brother’s  _girlfriend_ was actually willing to throw him off a roof. He couldn’t stop giggling while wondering morbidly if his death was going to be instant, or if he would be stuck in his broken body until his heart finally gave out from the pain. He looked back ahead when he felt something in his personal bubble, a presence that wasn’t there a moment ago. Glancing above him to see Hugo free falling with him, the man’s misshapen red eyes locked on his and Priest slowly tilted his head when he realized everything felt like it was going in slow motion. He felt like he should have hit the ground by now, that he should be dead. Yet he was just stuck in this slow freefall with Hugo above him.

“Do you trust me?” Hugo asked in a voice that held echoes almost as if other people were speaking at the same time, and Priest narrowed his eyes on him from the question. Because no, he didn’t… Especially given the fact the man just materialized in front of him and seemed to have slowed down time. He grunted while seeing the man hold out his hand, waiting for his answer. Given the fact he didn’t really want to die he shifted and took Hugo’s hand, looking up into the man’s eyes.

“Sure.” That was enough to cause Hugo to smile, a sudden burning pain taking over his hand where Hugo’s touched. Much like he was being branded causing him to cry out from the pain of it. It wasn’t even like it was over the skin, but a lot like it was being branded into his bones. He tried to pull his hand away but Hugo held it with such a force he wondered if the man was crushing his hand. It took him a second as the pain dulled down before he realized he wasn’t falling anymore. Or that Hugo wasn’t still above him. The shadows from the building around them engulfing him and he was just lying in the middle of darkness, staring up at what looked like a bright blue galaxy. He laid there for a while, blinking a few times before forcing himself to sit up. Listening to the little whispers that traveled through the area and scanning the galaxy above him before he looked over to Hugo who was standing there with his hands crossed behind his back. Head tilted some to the side, Priest winced when he felt that sudden burning pain radiating up his arm and glanced down at the hand he used to take Hugo’s hand. Seeing a bright outline of white light in the shape of the man’s hand. “And what exactly is this-”

“Mr. Priest, I uh… I don’t know how to like  _fully_ explain this to you.” Even moving his hands as he spoke like he somehow could explain it better with hand gestures. “Like uh, I know.” He was closing his eyes really tight like he was trying to find the answer before tapping the side of his head. “I like  _know_ what it is. But uhm. Telling you… seems a little?” He opened his eyes and gave him his full attention even shifting to loosen his tie. “Uhm, hard? And like very complicated?” Priest couldn’t help but wonder if it was actually complicated or if he was too stupid to understand it so he didn’t want to tell him what he knew. “Like I know a lot of like, uh, stuff now-”

“Hugo.” He said the man’s name to stop him from rambling on, watching as Hugo tilted his head the other way before looking up to the galaxy above them. “Where are we?” He moved his hand to touch the light, trying to see if he could gauge what it was exactly. It just throbbed like a fresh brand causing him to flex his hand and arm to figure out what exactly was going on.

“This is like. The uhm, this is the universe? This is everything.” He looked around when the words echoed around him. He blinked while looking from the galaxy back to Hugo, getting annoyed now from not having anything explained to him. He rubbed his face, ignoring the stinging sensation from the wound going down the middle of it. The pressure from his hand rubbing his face pulling at his cut.

“Okay, so we’re standin outside the universe?” He asked seeing the man nod he leaned his head back with a small sigh. “Great.” Sarcasm held heavily in his voice as he shifted in his stance. “How do I get back to the real world?” He watched how Hugo turned to look at him.

“I’ll like… take you back later.” He informed him while looking back to the galaxy above them. “Right now, I have to like make sure that the others like… Do what they like need to do?” Priest narrowed his eyes from that comment while standing next to him and looking up to the galaxy. He could hear their voices around him, the other projects, couldn’t quite make out what they were saying- “And no offense Mr. Priest but you’re like, getting in the way of that?” He looked over to Hugo with an amused smile.

“Really?” Usually he helped chase them into what they needed to do. But Hugo was nodding while watching the galaxy above them.

“You’re like helping keep Ken alive, and like… and recapturing the others? It’s like really,  _really_ , annoying.”

“Funny, that’s what you wanted me to do when you were the supervisor.” He watched how Hugo looked to him with a small groan, even rubbing his face.

“It doesn’t work like how Blackwing uh, wants? Like, uhm, I… we? need you for something else right now, not for what Ken wants.” Priest tapped his foot, looking around them with an annoyed expression before turning his attention back to Hugo. “Like it feels like wrong to you, right?” He supposed he’s done things recently the Universe was telling him not to, he clicked his tongue while crossing his arms over his chest. “So. I needed to like, intervene, especially because it like totally almost got you killed, like, you can’t die yet.” He informed him and Priest dropped his hands to his side and walked over to the man, looking him over as he stopped in front of him. “So, I’m taking you. You’re going to like, do what we want and uhm, like help the projects like you’re supposed to.” Priest couldn’t stop his giggle from that. That was hilarious, to be told to listen to this moron and do whatever he said.

“Hugo, it’s great an’ all that you somehow are still alive and have these new abilities but I’m not gonna go and do what ya tell me to do-” That dull throbbing pain sparked to life in his hand, he grabbed it with a small gasp as he actually dropped down to a knee. Looking at his hand as that white light turned red and burned like someone was holding a hot brand to it.  

“You like… don’t have a choice Mr. Priest.” Those voices echoed around him and even invaded his own skull. Hugo’s voice being perceived as his own with an intense need to just stay there, to the point he didn’t even want to move as he gave a small grunt from the pain chorusing through his arm. “Now, for like starters, you’re going to uhm… give Bart a gun.” He watched as one appeared in his hand, he looked at it before looking to Hugo with narrowed eyes. “And you’re going to have to like… let her kill who she like wants to kill.”

“You,” he winced when the pain became electric as his hand curled around the gun. Having half a mind to just shoot Hugo even though that nagging feeling was telling him not to. He took in a deep breath relaxing his hand which caused the pain to subside. “You want me… to let her kill Ken?” Looking for clarification, but asking the question lowered the pain into a dull throbbing sensation.

“I can’t tell you how many times we’ve like tried to kill him? It’s getting like  _super_ annoying now.” We… we he kept saying we. He felt dizzy when he grabbed the gun again, like he wasn’t getting enough air causing his hand to loosen up as he looked back up at the man that stood over him. “We thought like; give him risky jobs with like risky people that’ll do it. And like… No? Then give him to Bart and,” he trailed off and sighed while motioning to himself. “Even tried to use this body to like kill him and he talked me out of that too.”  _This body._  So, it’s not actually Hugo? He watched him, eyes scanning him over, he looked, sounded and acted so much like him. Was Hugo still in there with whatever else was, or was it all a ruse? “Like, he uhm… he like needs to die before he breaks more things.”

“What exactly is he breakin?” Priest asked, moving to stand up, holding the gun in a relaxed way by his side.  

“Everything.” Hugo was looking back to the universe. “Something big is like coming… and Ken’s opening the door for it. Which is why we like… tried to kill him before he could reach the position he’s in now and like uhhh, decided to give the job to like Bart? But you’re like, getting in the way and we can’t like allow that anymore.”

“So, this thing.” He changed hands that was holding the gun and lifted the hand with the light. “Is goin’ to hurt when I don’t listen to you then?” Hugo turned to give him his full attention.

“Yes.” Great… maybe he was better off dying… He raised the gun feeling the burning pain in his hand as Hugo just blinked at it and stared at it. “Mr. Priest.” He shot the gun, watching the bullet lodge into Hugo’s head, but that burning pain just increased and brought him to his knee again. Hugo didn’t fall, he just stood there with a small sigh, blood running down his forehead as the bullet was actually pushed out of his skull and the man knelt down in front of him as the pain from his hand was radiated all the way up into his skull. Priest couldn’t stop the small cry in pain, dropping the gun as he grabbed his hand, watching it twitch as the light grew and the pain increased to the point he was biting his tongue so hard he could taste his own blood. “You can’t like kill me… Mr. Priest.”  _Obviously_. Kind of showed from the fact he was still standing after getting shot in the head. “We’re not alive.” He looked up at him with narrowed eyes before the darkness around him faded and he found himself sitting in the hall in Blackwing. Eyes locked on his hand where that light no longer was visible. He looked to the side to see the gun laying there, he grit his teeth while slowly picking it up, shoving it in his empty holster as he forced himself to his feet. He glanced over to see he was outside of Bart’s room, taking in a deep breath he turned to head the other way. Only for that pain to grow in a way that made him drop to his knees again as he pressed his forehead into the floor, giggling through the pain as he held his arm to his chest.

 _This was going to be fun_.  

He looked up when he heard footsteps around him in a hurried manner, seeing other agents he gave a small sigh while forcing himself into a standing position. Slowly dusting himself off and wincing from the pain as he saw Ken step out from the agents. A look of confusion on the man’s face, Priest looked from him towards Bart’s door then back again. Not liking how this was going as he didn’t even want to do this anyway. He liked Ken, Ken was a good boss, a good fuck, he enjoyed the man’s tactics. He liked how smart he was and how he used and manipulated people. But now here he was, being told by the universe to hand over a gun to Bart who would probably kill the man in seconds.

“Mr. Priest… care to explain how you managed to teleport into the middle of Blackwing?” Priest looked down at his hand which still felt like it was burning but it was manageable… for the moment at least. He took in a deep breath not even sure where to start, and also not liking how there were guns trained on him despite them realizing it was him.

“Ken…” He winced from the warning burn in his hand. “I’m going to give you a little heads-up, I have to walk into Bartine’s room, where I’m going to give her a weapon.” The guns were gripped tighter by the agents now when they realized that was putting their supervisor in danger. “Not because I want to but because I  _have_ to thanks to a higher power than you.” He grunted when his hand started to burn again, he grabbed his wrist and doubled over as his fingers convulsed from the pain. He gave a little laugh when he noticed the agents hesitantly looking from him to Ken.

“Mr. Priest…” So calculating as he tented his fingers in front of him in thought. “You’re not going to want to do that.”

“I know!” He stated harshly, the pain making his anger and adrenaline spike as that feeling kept pulling and pushing him to wanting to walk into Bart’s room. “That’s why I’m giving you the heads up so you can go get on a helicopter or get in a truck and get out of here.” He gripped his arm tighter as he fell back to his knees with a cry in pain which easily turned into another little giggle, one of annoyance this time. “The uh, the universe… is rather persistent right now, Ken.” Growling the words through the pain, he could hear the Agents turning their safeties off, he raised his head to look up at Ken who was holding his hand to get ready to tell them to shoot him. “Really? I warn you and this is the thanks I get?”

“You won’t have to follow the universe if you’re dead, Mr. Priest.” He stated bluntly while dropping his hand, Priest grinned as the agents pulled the triggers for their machine guns only for all of them to jam. He couldn’t stop his giggle as some looked at the guns and others lowered their weapons. He glanced up to see Ken looking from him towards the door that slowly started to open from Bart being curious about what was going on.  

“Clocks tickin’ Ken.” He grabbed the gun that was in the holster, keeping it pointed at the ground as he sat up and held it behind him. Ken was quick to motion for the agents to follow, they walked backwards becoming human shields as Bart took the gun from him.

“What’s this for, Mistah Priest?” He slowly glanced back at her, silent as the pain faded away, watching her look the gun over before he just smiled at her. Standing up again as he crossed his hands behind his back and turned to face her.

“You know exactly what it’s for.”

“Oh… no… Mistah Priest, Ken’s my friend I couldn’t.” He moved his hands to her shoulders when she tried to give him the gun back. Squeezing them as he smiled patiently at her and leaned down so his face was more in hers.

“Ken’s been using you, Bart, he doesn’t care about you. That’s why he doesn’t do anything when you get hurt, it’s time to listen to that feeling of yours, it’s time to become invulnerable again.” He could see her look at him with a mix of shock and hurt from his words.

“That’s not true. Ken’s like the bestest friend I’ve ever had-”

“Is he, Bart?” He tilted his head while looking her over, just glad that the pain in his hand was gone. “Are you actually happy here? Because you keep getting these opportunities to kill him, and then you don’t and you just keep suffering from that don’t you? Everyone here is so mean to you and Ken just watches as it all goes on and doesn’t do anything to stop it. And you know he could. He is the supervisor here, he has control of all the tests and yet he just leaves you to rot in the dark. He leaves you to get hurt and watches as it happens. That’s not what friends do, friends are supposed to help one another.” He informed, watching how she shifted in her spot as he moved a hand from her shoulder and gently put it over the hand holding the gun. “So, here I’m handing you a golden opportunity, now take it, and follow your gut.” He watched as she looked from him to the gun in her hands with tears in her eyes.

“Priest…”

“Running out of time, Bart.” He glanced up when the alarms started to go off, he couldn’t stop himself from giggling. “Go do what you were born to do.” He let go of her, watching as she looked back to that gun, pain and sorrow on her face but she finally started to head down the halls. He waited and watched her, listening to gun fire going off followed by screaming of other agents. Nothing from Bart, no sounds of pain or her screaming, meaning she was doing what she was instructed to do. He could feel a sudden nagging feeling, a persistent voice in his head perceived as his own telling him to go to the command center. He took in a deep breath before heading down the halls, hands twitching as he stopped to pick up a gun. Continuing on his way to the command room he raised his gun and killed everyone in there. Eyes heavy with blood lust as he walked over dead bodies and walked up to the control panel.  

Typing in what his mind was telling him before pressing a button, he looked up to the cameras, watching with a mix of irritation and sorrow as all the rooms filled with projects opened. As he watched them walk out of their rooms, immediately doing everything necessary as they worked on escaping. He just stood there looking from screen to screen watching the chaos happening in his  _home_. Watching as he single-handedly destroyed the only thing he ever loved. He couldn’t stop himself from giggling as he sat down in a chair, staring at the chaos, listening to the alarms blaring as the place started to go up in flames. Hands moving to his face as he rested his elbows on his knees and sat there for a moment still just laughing, trying to calm himself down. Honestly feeling miserable and angry and heartbroken, like all those years ago when Blackwing was shut down. Being forced to sit in a room and hear Blackwing was shut down, being paid off and forced into retirement all those years ago. A sea of emotions he normally had control over just filling up his chest making his throat feel tight as he choked on a noise akin to a sob. It was over, everything was over. He was made to take down the only thing he loved thanks to the fucking universe that hated with every fiber of his being right now. He could even feel tears welling in his eyes as he sat there and took in a shaky breath, feeling them threatening to fall as he finally stopped giggling. Running his hand obsessively through his hair, before raking them down his face. Ignoring the pain from how badly it was pulling at the cut down his face. Could taste his own blood and couldn’t even feel bothered to care as he moved a hand to cover his mouth, feeling the way the blood was dripping between his fingers. Just wanting to take back that stupid- He quickly turned and raised his gun when he heard footsteps, looking to the team that ran in the room.

“Mr. Priest.” Could hear Bosco’s voice as Priest slowly lowered his gun, he moved a hand to rub his eyes, wiping the tears out of them before it was noticed as he walked passed the man. “What happened I thought you were in Chicago-”

“Come on. Blackwing’s done.” He stated in a bitter tone, looking to his hand with hatred. He was definitely going to kill Hugo the next time he saw that asshole. He was going to make him pay for this no matter how much it hurt. He walked with the team he assumed was all of his own, passing other agents who were trying to save Blackwing only to be killed by projects making their escape, there were a few projects who looked ready to fight them but Priest just kept walking, some even followed to get to the car lot. Stealing some as Priest climbed in his SUV a few of his team joining him and the others got into separate cars and followed as he drove out. He didn’t bother to see if Ken managed to escape, not bothering to see if he was one of the many corpses on the ground. Just leaving with Bosco, Mason and Deshmukh in his car in silence. Blood still running down his face from the wound he didn’t bother to get under control.

He was thankful that no one in the car asked him what happened, Desh eventually passed over a rag and he groaned about it but held it to his face as she went to playing with the radio station. Turning it to a rock station which they listened to for a while before they finally stopped at a gas station. Bosco getting out to fill up the SUV and Mason headed to talk to the others who pulled in after them. Going in for drinks and snacks, he finally looked over to Desh who was just smiling at him. One of her patient motherly smiles that honestly annoyed the hell out of him especially right now. He slowly pulled the rag away from his face, looking at the damage in the mirror as she grabbed the medkit that Mason probably handed her some time during the drive. Opening it for him as he worked on removing the bandages that were soaked through with blood.

“What happened in Chicago?” She finally asked, Priest used the rearview mirror to replace the bandages on his face before locking the doors so the others couldn’t walk in on the conversation.

“I was fighting Incubus, and Miss Brotzman got lucky and knocked me off the roof, as I was falling to my death Hugo appeared and asked if I trusted him. Which really in that situation I didn’t see what I had to lose.” He grit his teeth at the choice of words hands clenching into fists before he raised his hand up and looked at it, curious if anyone could see the brand. “He branded me and took me to some weird place… I felt like I was standing outside the universe if that makes sense… either way, I was told I had to give Bart a gun and that I had to follow the universe or…” He clenched his hand into firsts, couldn’t stop from laughing as he turned to look to her. “Every time I don’t do what the universe wants, or I act against it, it feels like someone is burning me from the inside out… and the universe had me…” He trailed off, leaning back in his seat just staring out the windshield as he watched Fletcher, Poole, and Mason walk out with bags of supplies, all laughing like nothing happened.

“Maybe it’s for the best.” He looked over at her from those words, honestly annoyed enough he found himself wanting to hit her.

“What are you-”

“Look, Osmund, I understand how you feel about Blackwing, but this is a long time coming. It’s not the first time it was taken down, and if it for some dumb reason starts up again I know this time wont be the last.” She shifted in her seat before moving her hands. “I mean… we are working on trying to capture people who can do  _amazing_ things and all have diverse purposes, they do so much for this world that people don’t even seem to understand and we’re  _trapping_ them. Despite how fun it is, despite how challenging everything can be, you have to be able to see that it was just going to happen. And keep happening if people keep trying. You are destined to keep running into projects, you can still go out and have fun with everything you enjoyed from Blackwing. How about you for once stop looking for a normal job and do your whole holistic thing. Might enjoy it even more than Blackwing. And don’t worry about us, we can always be on call if you need anything, and we can go back to working for that mercenary company.” He watched as she just crossed her arms and shifted in her seat, smile on her face. “Watched you struggle for too long trying to fit yourself in a box that’s not made for you. So, go, go do your universe thing. I for one miss my wife so don’t mind the break at all.” He couldn’t stop his amused smile at that, glancing back at his hand before sighing and unlocking the car. Hearing the door open as Bosco climbed back in, he slowly started the SUV again as Desh rolled down the window and leaned out. “There better be beer in there or I’m sending you back in.” She called out to Mason who just grinned while moving to hold up the six pack.

“If I have to try out this new job of mine. Then you have to go to rehab.” Desh just laughed while leaning back in her seat and rolling up the window.

“Ozzy, I am fifty-two years old I can drink if I damn well please.” He couldn’t stop his giggle as they all loaded back up and began driving again. Priest drumming his fingers on the wheel and giving a pleased noise when Mason handed him some laffy taffy which he began eating. Pausing the road trip to stop and get coffee before continuing again.

“So where are we going exactly?” He glanced back to see Bosco laying down head resting on Mason’s lap playing on his phone. Mason had headphones in and was reading something but moved to pull one of the ear pieces out when she heard the question.  

“I’m dropping you all off at the old mercenary place we worked during retirement.” He listened when Bosco sat up from the words, feeling him leaning against to seat.

“Dropping us off, but you’re not staying?” Priest glanced back at him before looking back ahead, honestly felt like a long day so he was already looking for motels to stop at. “Why can’t we come with you?” He could see Desh looking towards Bosco now, hand even moving to push him into the back by his face. Priest couldn’t stop his giggle at that as the woman sat back down in her seat and took a deep breath, like she was already annoyed by the man’s antics.

“Somethings come up-”

“Look, boss, I’ve learned not to question weird things when it comes to you. But not only did you destroy Blackwing,” he could see the man holding up his phone which had video of him in the command center, that showed him killing the people in there before going to the console to let the projects out “but you’re also currently at the top of FBI’s most wanted list for  _treason_.” He couldn’t stop his smile from that, that had to mean Ken was still alive. “So, I would really like some answers.” The air felt a little tense now as he glanced at the man in the rearview mirror before looking back out at the road ahead of them.

“The annoying Holistic bullshit is giving me a job-”

“Dismantling Blackwing?” Bosco asked with an annoyed tone in his voice.

“I never said I  _liked_ the job, Bosco.” He snapped the words back at him before sighing. “I just have to do this, alright?” Priest stated while pulling in to a hotel looking over to Bosco. “You guys on the list?” Really hoping they weren’t, that would make things complicated with the merc company if that was the case. Knew Ronda wouldn’t like that one bit-

“No-”

“Then go get us some rooms.” Bosco was climbing out, slamming the door and lighting up his cigarette, an annoyance was sparking in Priest’s stomach from that as Mason slowly opened the door and climbed out, Deshmukh hesitating before turning to look at him.

“He-”

“Not right now, Desh.” He muttered in annoyance, could see her little amused smile as she climbed out of the car. He watched as her, Mason, and the other members of his team to walk into the hotel. Finally pulling his phone out of his pocket and looking up FBI’s most wanted, and sure enough there was a picture of him and details on him. He grunted before closing out of it, turning off his phone and pulling out the sim card breaking it before tossing it out of the window. Getting out of the car he pulled out the battery and tossed it into the trash before walking away and throwing the phone into the street. He stood there and watched as it got ran over a few times, head turning at the smell of cigarette smoke as he looked to Bosco who was standing next to him. “You do what you have to do, Bosco.” He looked over to him, knowing that the man was conflicted, knowing the real reason he was bringing all this up was because he felt betrayed that he would do this. Knowing Bosco was loyal enough to his job he might actually turn on him because of his status as wanted for treason. He could see the man eyeing him for a moment before motioning at him.

“I don’t get why you’re ditching us is all. What happened to loyalty-”

“Loyalty? Bosco, you guys stayin’ with me ain’t smart, especially given the fact I’m wanted. Should ditch the SUV next.” Bosco moved so he was standing in front of him, flicking the cigarette carelessly to the side.

“We can  _help_ you.” He was honestly glad it was going this way, didn’t want to end the night with having to kill Bosco to save himself. Felt like he already was forced to do enough annoying bullshit today.

“Look, Bosco, right now I appear to be invulnerable when I follow what the universe wants me to do, you guys aren’t.”

“Like with Bart?” Priest shrugged while looking back to the road.

“Ken tried to have me executed and everyone’s guns jammed so yeah… like Bart.” He let a silence fill between them before he moved his hands to the man’s shoulders and smiled at him. “I’ll call if I need ya, I can keep in contact with you guys, but I ain’t gonna drag you along with whatever I have to do next.” He crossed his arms over his chest, watching Bosco as the man just shifted in front of him.

“Got our rooms!” They both glanced over to Fletcher from where she stood next to them. Large smile on her face as she rocked on her toes, hand moving to grab Priest’s as she lead him towards the Hotel. Eventually moving to loop her arm through his. “So, boss man, what’s the plan?” She mused up to him seeming to be excited about all of this if Priest was honest. “Rumor has it we’re going back to Merc work? Heading back to our old one? Cause I liked that place.” Priest just gave her an amused smile.

“That’s exactly the plan… I’m not staying with you guys though.” She almost pouted from the news while blinking up at him. “I have a job I need to do.”

“Like, cool, fun job that we’re all missing out on? Or annoying job?”

“Annoying job.” She gave a small sigh while leaning her head back.

“That sucks man, Universe is mighty inconvenient, eh, Boss?” Elbowing him in the side with an amused smile slowly pulling across her face.

“Ain’t that the truth.” They met up with the rest of the team who all looked to him as they headed up to the floor their rooms were on. Splitting off so Bosco was with Mason, Fletcher was with Poole, Sullivan was with Jean, Fiala was with Pope, Kramer got a room to herself, and Desh insisted he stay with her. He followed her into the room and watched as she immediately began taking off her uniform before jumping in her bed. Turning on the TV and flipping through channels as Priest headed into the bathroom. Starting up the shower to get the blood off himself, just standing there feeling uncertain about what to do as he heard movement in the other room. Eventually he looked up and saw Desh’s shadow through the curtain where she was obviously standing in the doorway.

“You’re not going to spiral into depression again over this are you?” He sighed from her question, leaning his head back as he finally shut off the water when he got all the blood off himself. He pulled the curtain back and stepped out, taking a towel from Desh when she handed it to him.

“Honestly, I just really want to kill people right now, preferably starting with Hugo Friedkin.” She looked amused as she walked back into the bedroom, taking her hair out of the ponytail it was in before getting back on the bed. He put on his pair of boxers after drying off and walked into the room to climb into the other bed that was in the room. Laying down before looking at his hand where the invisible brand was, fingers gently trailing over it before he was rather rudely thrown a bag of chips that hit him in the arm. He blinked a few times before looking over at the woman who smiled innocently at him.

“You’re making the right choice you know.” She insisted he grabbed the bag and opened it to eat the snack size pack of chips while looking over to the TV. Which the news was talking about some ‘training incident’ that went wrong in the desert to cover up what really happened to Blackwing. He slowly looked back over to her and giggled while sitting up more in the bed.

“Don’t know how Ronda will feel about the team without me.” He mused the words, getting a sly smile from Desh who just shrugged.

“I’ll deal with Ronda; besides she likes me.”

“I think she likes you because she wants to fuck you.” He mused the words out getting an amused laugh from the woman who sunk further in the bed, slowly turning the TV off before rolling over to look at him.

“What can I say, I’m irresistible, everyone loves me.” She said it in a dramatic tone and even flipped her hair while doing so, he couldn’t stop his amused grin as he slipped under the covers felt weird not having a phone to set an alarm to. “We should make a stop to get new clothes tomorrow and pick you up a burner phone. I have more than enough cash to pay for it, I’m sure all your accounts are frozen.” She stated while obviously getting ready to go to bed. “And hey, this is exciting for you right, living on the run?” Amused tone in her voice causing a small smile to cross his face.

“Sure.” Wasn’t going to be the same though, knew nothing could compare to working for Blackwing. Didn’t even feel like finishing his chips, just set the bag on the nightstand and rolled over to attempt to sleep. Which did not come easy to him, he could feel himself tossing and turning all night. Randomly getting up to put clothes on and head out of the room after stealing Desh’s key. He found himself feeling on high alert as he kept his eyes on the parking lot, curious if anyone would come by to try and find them given they were using his SUV. Eventually Bosco and Pope ended up joining him, both smoking as they stood next to him. Pope finally leaning over and tilting her head up at him.

“Makin’ sure ain’t no one sendin’ in SWAT?” She sounded amused, while flicking ash off to the side, he looked over at her before back to the parking lot.

“Somethin’ like that.”

“Shit boss, ain’t gotta worry ‘bout nothin’ think they all figured we dead if I’m honest. Not many people got out thanks ta Bart.” He watched as she looked back to the parking lot anyway, shifting in her stance before taking a long and deep drag. Always was such a veracious smoker, ended up with the cherry being longer than her cigarette most of the time.

“Clearly they think boss is still alive, him being on FBI’s most wanted and all.” Pope was laughing from Bosco’s comment, turning around and resting her elbows on the railing behind her, amused smile on her face as she attempted to flick ash off her cigarette that didn’t exist thanks to the long cherry that took its place.

“Ain’t that just somethin’, Osmund Priest, wanted for treason, Riggins must be havin a fuckin’ field day I tell you what.” Priest couldn’t stop his amused smile from the thought, thinking about the man and how he must be so happy to find all of this out. He leaned against the railing, Bosco eventually joining him and staring out at the parking lot.

“Surprised y’all ain’t sleepin.” Priest finally muttered, glancing over to them and seeing Pope arching a brow and an amused smile from Bosco.

“Come on boss, you know the Saint never sleeps.” Teasing tone in his voice while playfully shoving Pope who just laughed before situating herself back in her spot.

“Thought the sayin was ‘ain’t no rest for the wicked’ don’t tell me you’re changin sides on us Pope.” Priest mused the words out watching as she finished her cigarette and boredly flicked it behind her. “Littering too, what a  _scandal_.”

“I blame your influence.” Priest couldn’t stop his grin before standing up straight, listening as Pope lit up another cigarette, he reached passed Bosco snagging it from between her lips and placing it between his own. Not that he actually cared for them, never got passed the taste, it was bitter and awful. But he could use the little head rush from the nicotine right now to try and relax. Pope was just laughing while lighting up another cigarette. “Gonna be a long day tomorrow, ain’t it?”

“Yep.” He breathed the smoke out of his lungs, slowly taking another drag and grimacing slightly at the taste. Mouth already feeling weird from the smoke as he inhaled it into his lungs, just watching the cars on the interstate to see if he saw anything that looked military.

They just enjoyed one another’s companies for a while. Joking and laughing and smoking. Priest getting a little wobbly from the head rush of the nicotine high but he felt light and floaty and enjoyed it for a while before they all headed back to their rooms. Priest finally managing to sleep again even if it was only for two hours before Desh woke him up. They got out the hotel quick in the morning, driving to the nearest store where they all got new clothes to blend in with people. Buying extra for the rest of the trip seeing as it would take a while to get there. The people in the car randomly rotating so he had time with all of them before they reached their destination in Texas, parking the car outside of the large building that was surrounded by military looking guards who watched their every move. Ronda herself standing at the door with Lisa by her side, like she was expecting them. Priest got out first, heading over to her before his team followed, Ronda stood there in a beautiful white dress, with white gold and diamond jewelry. Hair pulled back in a tight bun to show off the earrings which were probably worth more than the building behind her.

“Hello, Ronda.” Smiling at her as she tented her fingers, thumb playing with a ring on her index finger before she finally stepped forwards, heels clicking on the cement as she walked around him. Looking him over with a stoic expression on her face, she finally moved to cross her hands behind her back, head held high as she took a more military stance and continued to circle him like a vulture.

“Osmund Priest, imagine my surprise when I heard from Monique about Blackwing… when I heard you were placed on FBI’s most wanted for treason. At first I thought I was having a stroke…” She finally had a glimpse of a smile before it faded and she stopped so she was standing in front of him. “Why shouldn’t I just capture you and turn you in? Let you live behind bars for a while, seems like a nice glimpse of justice. However, I’m not sure how long you would live behind them before they just dragged you out back and shot you like the mad dog you are.” She tapped her foot twice and all the guards currently outside aimed their guns at them. Lisa stepping forwards and holding a phone out for Ronda to take. She held it and Priest just clicked his tongue while shrugging his shoulders, didn’t really have an answer for her.

“I thought you were over the fact I captured all you the first time you hired me while I was in retirement.” She laughed, using the phone to cover her red painted lips while turning her head away from him. Grin still heavy on her face bringing out her laugh lines and wrinkles that were hidden behind foundation.

“Mr. Priest. I saw a man with great potential thrown out into the streets like a sad lost puppy. A soldier. A tool. A weapon. So much potential wasted because people thought it was too dangerous to be around normal people. A thing that I could use and profit from no matter how many times you disobey and blatantly ignore orders, regulations, and safety measures. I came to you because I knew you would work better on my battle field than he would sitting at some nice house  _gardening_ for the rest of his life I hired you and I picked you up at one of your lowest points in your life because you could make me money. Now tell me why the hell should I offer the same thing now while you’re wanted? While people will come by if they recognize you and say something to me. Putting my operation in danger because you can’t live a normal life. You’re going to be seen, you’re going to be identified, and Monique can’t keep them from digging into my work forever.” She spoke harshly, monologuing in a way Priest was used to. He knew she liked the sound of her own voice and had learned very early on while working for the woman not to interrupt. So he waited patiently till it was his turn, hands crossed behind his back as he copied her military stance.

“I can stop you right now and tell you I ain’t stayin, was just droppin off my team and I have other things to do.” He blinked when she grabbed his hand with her free one, placing it over the brand Hugo left. She tilted her head and she just kept her hand there and he couldn’t help but wonder if she was trying to use her abilities on him. He slowly looked down to her hand when he noticed it was perfectly over where he could feel that brand.

“This, I can feel this… who gave this to you? It’s a lot stronger than what we can do. It’s radiating off of you like a beacon. I wonder if that’s why none of the projects killed you, hmm? Been marked. Branded. Claimed. Who is powerful enough to take ownership of the Catalyst… I wonder?”  

“A really annoying pain in my ass if I’m completely honest.”

“Is this a new project? So much power I would love to meet them.” Priest watched as she squeezed his hand tighter, feeling light headed and hearing a soft noise in the back of his head that was slowly being consumed by that burning feeling. “Can you take me to them? Or bring them here? I want to see your master.” Realizing she wasn’t actually speaking the words out loud that it was all in his head. She also seemed to be getting stronger, their abilities never worked on him alone.

“Ronda.” He could feel his hand starting to burn, she pulled her hand away and slowly started to shake it when it clearly appeared to have hurt her for trying to take control of him. She was laughing, and Priest found himself getting irritated, angry, as he let his hands drop by his sides. The woman once more walking around him before holding the phone out to him. He looked from it back to her.  

“Go on. Take it.” He slowly took the cell phone, looking at it before looking back to her. “It’s yours now… but I want you to leave, I want you to go and the next time I see you it better be for a  _real_ reason. Or I will call the feds and see what happens. You have two hours. Take what weapons you want. Take a car of your choosing. Clothes if you wish. And then go. Am I understood?”

“My team?” He asked while sliding the phone in his pocket, she finally glanced up to look at them, eyes scanning over the ten people that stood behind him.

“You’re missing some.” Priest just shrugged, remembering the five he killed for their insubordination after he Panto incident.

“They were expendable.” Ronda just laughed, a full hearty one that time before looking to the diamond watch on her wrist.

“I’ll take them, I’m keeping an eye on Kramer though.” He smiled and ran his tongue over his bottom teeth before glancing back at the woman in question. Watching her blow a bubble with her gum before popping it and picking up her bag.

“Hear that Kramer? I expect you to still be alive when I check in.”

“No promises, boss.” She called back to him, he turned to follow after Ronda, Lisa walking behind him before he saw Cody, Tonya, and Mallory all appear and walked with them. Could hear them whispering about something making him wonder if it was about his brand.

“Who did claim you?” Ronda asked in all seriousness, he gave an annoyed sigh as they lead him to the weapons cache and the rest of her little team dropped bags for him to take the weapons and ammo in.

“Hugo Friedkin.” He watched as the woman tilted her head.

“Your old supervisor? I thought he was dead?” She mused the words out, Priest worked on finding and loading weapons he wanted, checking some he hadn’t seen before out and testing the weight of them loaded and unloaded.

“I am curious why you have so much information on our secret facility.” He glanced over to her while loading up the guns, putting a holster on to get a new handgun. Placing Knives in the empty knife holder in his boots, loading up happily on all the weapons he needed as Ronda crossed her arms and leaned her hip against a table.

“Monique.” Of course she would have that type of information… He took in a deep breath before slowly letting it out while loading up on ammo. Once satisfied he turned to look to Ronda who was watching him with interest. “How did your dead Supervisor mark you?”

“He’s some all powerful being now… And I’m fine on clothes,” He threw one of the bags over his shoulder while picking up the other two and looking her over. “The car on the other hand.” He watched as she smiled and lead him through the halls to the car lot that was there, Priest looked over a few of them before looking to the black suburban that held his interest. She got Cody to get him the keys and followed him as he loaded it up. Turning to look at her as she motioned to his pocket.

“The code for the phone is 056899. It has my number, Monique’s number, and Candice’s number saved into it. Don’t call us unless you desperately need us. And good luck with whatever your job is.” He climbed into the suburban, closing the door and starting it as she stepped back and the garage opened for him. He backed out of the parking space before heading out of the garage stopping outside to see his team waiting for him. Desh already opening his door and practically pulling him out so she could hug him and kiss his cheek.

“Be safe.” She stated while leaning back and gently touching his nose. “And take care of yourself, like this lovely thing, eat real food not just junk food.” Priest just rolled his eyes as she stepped back and he said by to the others. A few insistent on hugging him before he climbed back into the car and drove off, flipping through the radio to try and find something to listen to. Hoping on the interstate trying to see if he would get a feeling on where the hell to go from here.

“You let Ken get away.” He flinched from the sudden voice in the car, jerking the wheel but quickly working on getting the car back in his lane. Trying to catch his breath, heart racing from the fact he almost just got hit by a semi that was in an oncoming lane. He glanced in his rearview to see Hugo sitting there with a slight annoyed look on his face.

“Jesus… Christ… Are you  _trying_ to get me killed?”

“You. Let. Ken. Get. Away.” He repeated it with a more forced tone. Priest quickly pulled off to the side of the road. Parking the vehicle as he pulled his seatbelt off. Turning to begin climbing in the back, ignoring the pain radiating in his arm as he got back there and moved to try and strangle Hugo who caught his wrists and seemed to be having an easy time holding him back to stop him.

“I’m going to kill you.” Priest snapped through gritted teeth, all that anger he had been holding back coming out in full force. He wanted to punch his pretty little face in only for the man to shove him back into the front seats, pinning his hands above his head.

“We wanted you to let Ken die and you like…  _totally_ ruined that.”

“You said to give Bart a gun, so I did.” He snapped the words, Hugo just sighed while looking away from him. Staring out the window with almost a pout, Priest twisted and yanked his wrists different ways trying to get out of the man’s grip. Suddenly realizing the interesting position he was in given the fact he was half in Hugo’s lap and basically the man was the only thing holding him up. “If you wanted me to kill Ken why didn’t you just give  _me_ that job.” He snapped up at him, watching as Hugo finally looked to him and blinked a few times.

“Oh… oh that actually like… makes more sense… But Bart’s after him so.” The man let go of him with one hand to rub his face. A tired expression in his eyes and Priest couldn’t help but notice his arm was still pinned despite the man no longer holding him. Eventually letting go with his other hand. Priest shifted and blinked a few times to look up at his wrists as the man started move his hands. “Okay so new job for you.” He squinted at the black snake like objects currently restraining him. Blinking a few times before looking back to Hugo when the boy actually snapped his fingers in front of his face. “Hey, are you like… listening Mr. Priest?” He looked to the man feeling oddly calm as he shifted in his lap not sure how to bring up the fact he wanted to know if Hugo was holding him with… fuck that actually, he didn’t even know what. Didn’t think he wanted to know anyway.

“Yeah, sure.” He muttered waving one of his hands as the man just smiled at him. Having that almost puppy dog look as he perked up, hands resting on his thighs, Priest slowly glanced down at them curious if Hugo was even registering how this could be construed as ‘inappropriate’.

“You like know Dirk. He’s on a big case right now, it’s like super important. But uh there’s this uhm problem of another group that… that thinks like they need this crystal that Dirk’s trying to find. But like it’s very important and he needs to get to it like uhm first. Problem is this group has like a lot of a guns, and I mean like a  _lot_. I have like been helping where I can and like Farah is really cool, and she’s like a good fighter and like knows what she’s doing and stuff… But she doesn’t have the gun power like necessary? So, I need you to like, uhm… help them?” Priest was laughing, starting as a giggle before it turned into full blown laughter. Eyes closed as he worked on trying to calm down and catch his breath. Looking back to Hugo who was blinking at him with an uncertain and forced smile that looked on the verge of painful. “Please… Mr. Priest… they like really need help.”

“You want me to go and help Svlad Cjelli-”

“He goes by Dirk Gently now… I mean like, you should  _know_ that.” Priest took in a deep breath through his nose, shifting when he noticed his hands felt like they were falling asleep. “And it’s not like you really have a choice. You like… will help Dirk or like your hands not going to feel that great.”

“I’m honestly tempted to just cut it off.” He snapped the words, watching as Hugo tilted his head while looking to his hand. There was a look in his eyes that actually displayed interest from the comment. Like he was curious if that would work at all.

“I can just like… rebrand you… I can do that now actually.” Priest froze when the boy rested his hand over his heart. Eyes slightly wide as the man let his hand hover before tilting his head. “Oh… I guess I don’t know if that’s like a good spot… Do you even like uhm… have a heart?” Priest rolled his eyes from that comment while relaxing.

“Fine… I’ll help Svlad.”

“Dirk.”

“ _Whatever_.” Priest blinked when the man vanished, flailing and trying to catch himself so he didn’t fall only for it to not work and him land on the back seats floor. Bent awkwardly and sighing heavily before forcing himself up and climbing back into the front seat. Hitting the dashboard while staring at the sky. “You could at least tell me where the fuck to go!” He snapped the words, hitting the dash again and blinking when the screen loaded up the navigation system and showed him exactly where to go. He drummed his fingers on the wheel before taking the car out of part. “Thank you.” Grumbling under his breath as he checked to make sure no cars were coming before starting to drive on the route laid out for him. Which felt like a long drive, he eventually just pulled over on the side of the road, sleeping in the back of the car before getting up early to continue the route, rubbing his eyes sleepily as he drove.

Stopping to get coffee and some pastries before continuing to drive again. Looking around as he was clearly getting closer to his destination, pulling into a side alley when he reached it. He sat there for a while, finishing his Danish before getting out and grabbing a machine gun. Loading it up as he could hear voices rather close to him, none that he recognized though. He peeked around the corner and could see armed men carrying a crate, talking rather loud to one another. “It’s just weird man, like this is super weird. I don’t get what those guys have to do with this at all? Like do they even know anything.”

“Who cares, do you know how rich we’re going to be when all of this is over?” One of the others asked while shifting, Priest leaned back as they started to get closer to him.

“Hey! George! Heads up, we got intruders, I think it’s those three people from the bakery the other day!” He could hear being called over the radio. Priest sighed while leaning his head back, that sounded like they were probably talking about Svlad and his friends.

“What!? I thought we finally killed them!”

“They were last seen entering the warehouse.” He glanced back over when they dropped the crate looking towards the warehouse not that far from them.

“Shit, we’re checkin it out now Joey.” Watching them grab their guns and run for the warehouse. Priest stepped from around the corner, taking aim on them and firing. Giggling as he shot them down, some turning to look at him as he kept walking forwards. He honestly couldn’t stop his smile as he shot down the armed men that stood in his way, moving from cover to cover as more people started to leave the warehouse from the sounds of gunfire. Looking surprised to actually see him before he ducked behind a wall after he took out his last target. Working on reloading he arched a brow when he heard a familiar voice coming from around the corner. He turned in time to see none other than Farah Black taking down a man and shooting him before getting up and looking around. Holding her gun at the ready before shooting a few other guards who seemed to have appeared out of nowhere.

“Clear!” He moved, stepping out of the shadows when he saw someone coming from a door behind her, gun aimed at her temporarily before that brand began to throb in his hand. He grunted as he aimed at the man behind her and fired, giggling as she side-stepped and turned to watch the body hit the ground. She immediately turned to face him as he lowered his weapon and pulled on the strap so the machine gun was behind him.

“Hello again, Miss Black, you know I was hopin’ you and I could have a rematch now that I ain’t in a hurry.” Hands half raised to show he wasn’t planning on drawing a weapon as he grinned and kept walking, she just kept her gun trained on him.

“Stand down, Priest.” She stated the words coldly and he just giggled while tilting his head to the side.

“Now, now, Miss Black, I just went and saved your life, least ya could do is humor me.” She looked annoyed from that statement, and he couldn’t stop his giggle. He was quick to close the distance, knocking the gun out of her hand as she moved to the side to dodge a hit. Blocking his next one and sliding back on her feet from the force of it. “All that fancy trainin’ of yours, and all that potential wasted.” She grunted, dodging out from under his arm putting more space between them as he advanced on her.

“Hey!” He turned his head at the sound of the voice, only to turn right into what looked like a two by four smacking him hard in the head. He wasn’t sure really what did it in knocking him out, the initial hit catching up to him. Or how hard he hit the ground.


	2. The Worm Hole

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The mystery gang works on trying to figure out what to do with their new captive all while trying to solve their case. Tensions are high, and just keep rising.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Characters** : Osmund Priest. Dirk Gently. Todd Brotzman. Farah Black.   
> **Warnings** : Mentions of Abuse. Mentions of Murder. Death Threats. Small Break Down Scene. Violence. Murder. Animal Death (Very small scene at the end not graphic or descriptive just knows it happens). Priest’s POV   
> **Note** : I have a constant worry I’m not making Todd protective enough. >A>

“He saved us... Maybe he can help us…” Priest could hear the words, everything felt hazy and groggy and his head wouldn't stop pounding making him hear his heartbeat heavily in his ears. He worked on keeping his breathing calm and steady like it would be if he was still unconscious, slowly twisting the chain of the cuffs so he could work on breaking it. Wanting to get free despite the warning burn in his hand telling him not to. But he didn't want to just sit there while Svlad's friends discussed his fate.

"Dirk. That is insane, like do you hear yourself right now?”

“I know-”

“I think we just should have left him, I don’t know why I agreed to help bring him here!" Todd Brotzman was very clearly against him being there so this was going to be fun.

“You agreed because you love me.” Svlad had a bit of a playful tone in his voice Priest couldn’t help but be amused by.

“Which is why I don’t want  _him_  here after everything you’ve told me about him.” He could hear Todd state in a hushed whisper, Priest was biting his tongue to stop himself from laughing as he heard the sound of a gun being lowered. Like Miss Black had decided that they had him restrained and he was still out so he wasn't a threat right now. He knew she still had the gun in hand though in case he did anything stupid... which probably consisted of breaking the handcuffs restraining him but he only wore cuffs for certain people and they definitely weren't who he was looking to get cuffed by.

"I know, I know this is crazy but... but the timing of this is like one of our usual weird coincidences that usually work out... isn't it?" Svlad finally asked after a moment of silence. He found himself intrigued by that, curious now if the reason Svlad bothered to take him wherever they were now instead of just leaving him was because he knew what was happening. He supposed he could get something out of this stupid job Hugo assigned him to. He had no qualms at all with the violent aspect of his current mission, kill a few people, cause chaos in the streets? He could get behind that kind of fun no problem. “Like a big convenience to run into him here when we could have really used his help.”

"How is this in any way  _convenient_?" Farah asked with obvious distaste in her voice. Not that he was surprised, he knew she was smart enough to distrust him... was sure she and Todd would be harder to convince that he was actually here for a reason. Svlad might feel he was here for a purpose or notice the mark on his hand like Ronda did.

“I agree with Farah, we already have crazy guys with guns trying to kill us and you practically begged us to bring this one here.” Looks like Svlad realized they needed him even if the other two didn’t.

“You said while we were carrying him there were dead guards you didn’t kill, right Farah? Maybe he already is helping us?” Trying to be so diplomatic about this.

“Or he wanted to kill us himself.” Todd stated snidely.

"Look... I  _know_ him. Okay. You don’t understand the degree in which I know how he operates.” So much pain in his voice he could already hear it trembling. Thinking back to all the fun times they had when the boy managed to escape Blackwing.

“Dirk-”

“No listen for five seconds, if he was actually here for me he wouldn't hesitate to  _kill_  you guys, and he didn't even though he could have." Only because Hugo wouldn't let him, otherwise he would have had no problem mowing down Miss Black and Todd before playing with Svlad. Still needed to catch up to that boy and see how much he still feared him. He bit his tongue harder to stop a smile from forming when he managed to successfully break the chain link.

“He attacked Farah!” Todd stated voice raised.

“He did put his gun down...” Farah stated like she was contemplating. “I didn’t get the feeling he wanted to kill me and he very much could have when he shot the guy behind me.”

“Okay crazy theory here!” Todd started he could hear the man moving. “What if he was aiming for you and you just got lucky!?”

“That is also... a possibility.” Farah added in with a heavy sigh. 

“I say we just dump him somewhere." Guessed Todd really didn’t like him, wondered how much Svlad told him. What he told him, if they had the talk about who he was after he almost got them in Bergsberg or if Svlad needed time to bring it up. He found himself full of the intense desire to know.

"He's a Bounty Hunter right, Dirk?" Farah asked he could hear movement, a sudden silence filling the air making everything feel tense.

“Yes... He was called Blackwing’s Bounty Hunter, that was the title I could hear people use when they thought I was too young to understand what they were talking about.” But the boy was smart enough to know. Just quiet and reserved because he never wanted to be a bother to people. It was really hard not to laugh as he heard Farah give a heavy sigh.

"He could hunt us down again, we're not exactly  _hiding_  anymore."

"Because Blackwing is supposed to be done with us!”

“They could be done with us-” Dirk was trying

“Then why is he here if he's not here to take you back!?" He could feel someone getting closer to him, hear the way they knelt down in front of him and inched closer into his personal space. He stayed at the ready to make his move as he waited for the perfect opening. “Dirk stay away from him.”

"He’s chained up, it’s not like he can do anything and he still appears to be out cold... You hit him really hard Todd.” So, Todd was his mystery attacker. “Either way we should stop his bleeding?"  _Oh,_ _Svlad_ _, so caring_ _._  Couldn't help but noticed the boy smelled faintly of vanilla and candy from being so close to him now. "I feel like it's bad..." Could feel his fingers barely brushing by his face like he was going to examine the head wound that was still throbbing from whatever he was hit with. Priest opened his eyes at the same time as he shot his hand out to grab him by the wrist.

“Let him go or I will shoot you!” Easily standing up and dragging the boy up with him, forcing him to turn around and using him as a shield as that invisible brand gave warning throbs as he held the boy close to his body. Eyes glancing to Farah who was the main threat given she was armed and aiming a gun at him.

“Wouldn’t want to risk shooting the boy.” Priest mused, Todd shifted towards a table he noted had all his weapons on them. And he smiled while wrapping his arm around Svlad's throat keeping him still and pinned against his body. Smile growing into a grin as he pressed the side of his head against Svlad's. Earning a little whimper from the boy as he was sure he got blood all over his pretty little face. "Still so caring of other people, huh, Svlad?"

"His name's Dirk, now let go of him!" Todd shouted in defense, stepping closer only for Priest to tighten his grip. Wincing from the pain that surged making him loosen his grip. Knowing Svlad wouldn’t bother to try to get away… well hoping he wouldn’t bother to try to get away.

"Ah, don't move, you know how easy it would be to snap his neck like this?" Priest cooed the words in his ear before giggling. He moved his other hand, actually sliding it up the boy's stomach all the way up to his jaw. Squeezing it as Dirk trembled in his grasp, couldn't help but notice he was eyeing the hand with the invisible brand though. "Drop the gun, Miss Black." He watched as she shifted in her stance. "Then maybe we can talk like adults, yeah?" Sounded so amused, as the boy in his grasp moved to grab his wrist, trying to pull his hand off of him.

"I can't do that, Priest, you might just attack us anyway." Priest was giggling again getting a brilliant idea how to solve this as he shoved Svlad forwards right into Farah who moved to catch him. Priest instantly caught Todd's wrist when he went for a gun, pulling him closer as he reached passed him to arm himself fingers so close to the weapon before that pain sparked. His smile falling from his face as his hand felt like it was being held against a blow torch. He dropped Todd instantly. Grabbing his own hand with a pained cry as he fell to his knees, forehead pressing into the ground as he held his hand tighter to him. Giggling as he closed his eyes tight from how much it  _hurt_ , how the pain felt like it was radiating through his whole body now.

"Hugo!" He shouted the name, wanting him to stop for five seconds, felt like he might actually throw up now from how much the pain was surging through his nerves. He could hardly hear the commotion in the room around his own heartbeat before the pain eventually started to dull and subside, he was sweating heavily from the pain. Heartbeat felt fast and erratic as he stayed there cradling his arm to his chest, panting heavily and swallowing down the stomach acid he could taste in the back of his throat. Wait... Wait... he was in danger, right? He slowly raised his head working on catching his breath he blinked when he found Farah aiming a gun at him again and Svlad and Todd a safe distance away. He couldn't stop his giggle this time as he moved his hands slowly, putting them half up in surrender as he worked on getting back up to his feet.

“Stay down, or I will shoot you.” He rolled his eyes while staying on his knees, supposed he shouldn’t do anything stupid right now to get himself killed. 

“I say we shoot him anyway.” He couldn’t stop his giggle from that, looking as Todd moved over to Svlad to make sure he was okay. It was kind of an adorable scene really. How caring Todd was for the boy who seemed insistent on saying he was fine despite how much he was shaking.

“I promise I’m okay Todd-”

“If you touch him again I will personally kill you.” Todd snapped in his direction he couldn’t stop his grin from that, watching how Dirk was shifting in his spot looking over to him and staring right at his hand.

"Mr. Priest...” He could see Todd looking at Dirk with worry from him actually addressing him. “Why... well... Okay." He looked to Svlad who stepped closer to him, still a good distance away and a bit behind Farah, but closer none the less all while fiddling with his rather obnoxiously colorful tie in an obvious nervous manner from actually speaking to him. "For starters what is that on your hand?"  _So, he could see it?_  Priest grunted as he glanced at the invisible brand on his hand before looking back towards them with an amused smile.

"I guess a type of insurance to make sure I don't do anything the universe don't want." There was a long pause, he glanced back up to see the three of them looking between one another before looking back to him.

"And you called for Hugo... like... Mr. Friedkin, Hugo?" Priest grit his teeth while looking back to his hand, eyes narrowing on it before he dropped it to his side to look back at them. Arms crossing over his chest as he shifted a bit on his knees, sitting comfortably on his calves now. Wondering if Miss Black was going to let him up anytime soon, he gave a soft sigh before nodding.

"Yeah, should see him now, some sort of all powerful being... It's actually really annoying." He announced while glancing back down at his hand. “Look, I can’t do anything to hurt you without this lovely  _brand_  of mine burning me inside out. So why don’t you put the gun down and we can talk about this, huh?”

“I don’t trust you.” Farah said the words calmly, Priest rolled his eyes while motioning towards the gun aimed at him.

“Feelings mutual there, Miss Black.” He mused out the words, Todd was shifting in his stance, obviously looking more annoyed by this situation.

“You threatened to snap Dirk’s neck, I don’t buy that you can’t hurt us.” Todd stated while pulling Svlad closer to him to try and help clean the small amount of blood off his face.

“Dropped really fast when I actually made a move to grab a weapon and shoot y’all now didn’t I?” He countered before rolling his eyes. “There’s a pair of heavy duty cuffs in that mess, that I can’t break out of... I’ll let you cuff me, we can talk that way.” He waited, watching as Farah kept her eyes on him and gun trained as she nodded her head. Todd was moving over to the table and Priest made no move, just waiting patiently as Todd stood behind him.

“Put your hands behind your back.” Priest slowly did as Farah instructed, giving an amused smile when Todd wasn’t particularly nice about cuffing him. Could feel the metal biting into his skin before the man stepped back. Farah slowly lowered the gun and Priest shifted to sit criss-cross on the ground as he watched them and impatiently bounced his knee. “Why are you here?”

“To help you.” He shrugged boredly, Todd actually laughed.

“That’s bullshit, this is bullshit!” Todd snapped while looking between Farah and Dirk, very obviously more emotional about this situation than the other two. Priest stopped bouncing his knee while looking to Svlad directly.

“Hugo says y’all are lookin for some crystal and this group you’re goin’ up against might be more than you can handle.” Didn’t see reason to lie, even if he hated that this was what he was going to be doing with his life now. Didn’t like it one bit, he could see Svlad shifting in his spot, a look that was a mix of relief and pain all at once.

“How do we know this isn’t some elaborate plan to catch Dirk and bring him back to Blackwing?” Todd snapped, Priest licked his teeth, tilting his head to the side before looking away from them. Trying to think of how to explain it so they would believe him...

“The news is currently talkin’ ‘bout a military trainin’ incident that happened in the Nevada desert this morning... In reality the only reason things have been reported goin’ up in smoke and flames with a massive evac is because Blackwing has fallen apart. Ain’t y’all just lucky?” Svlad was quick to turn on the TV in the room to flip through channels to the news covering the same event he was just talking about. “And I’m currently wanted for treason, so not like I’ll be takin you guys to the government.” He shrugged his shoulders, watching how they looked to him and then to one another as Farah pulled out her phone probably to confirm that story too. They stepped away from him though, he glanced over as the three of them talked trying to figure out to do, catching random words about not trusting him, it being some sort of elaborate plot, so on and so forth. Priest shifted while glancing around the motel they were at, eyeing the two beds in the room before looking back to them when Svlad actually moved closer only for Todd to protectively stand between them. He eyed both boy’s, watching as Svlad put a hand on Todd’s shoulder to reassure him before getting a little closer.

“Mr. Priest, what happened for you to be wanted for treason?” Priest grit his teeth, running his tongue running against the cut on his bottom lip. Not really wanting to explain this again or really think too much on the fact he took down Blackwing. He clenched his hands behind his back, taking in a deep breath before letting it out.

“Look, Svlad-”

“His name is Dirk.” Getting it in unison from both Farah and Todd

“-I ain’t here ‘bout what happened in Blackwing. I’m here ‘cause you need that crystal thing and apparently more guns.” He tilted his head with an amused smile. “Lucky for all of you, I just picked up a lot of them.” Looking towards the table where his weapons were laid out. “But... If y’all really don’t trust me can show ya how lucky y’are that I can’t hurt ya.” Shrugging his shoulders boredly, watching how Farah ended up walking forwards, still having that gun. Which she then proceeded to aim at him while eyeing him cautiously.

“Get up.” He sighed from the order, shifting to get his feet under him before standing up and rolling his shoulders as she motioned him to the water heater that was in the room he was handcuffed to earlier. “Sit down.” He arched a brow but finally turned to walk over to the water heater, sitting down and giving an amused laugh when she used another pair of handcuffs to handcuff him back to it. Yanking on it to make sure they wouldn’t come loose before getting up. “We need to talk.” She grabbed both boys before dragging them out of the room. Priest tilted his head watching them leave. Seeing the door close behind them he sighed and felt under his belt for the hidden handcuff key he had there. Fingers gently wedging it out of the small little pocket attached to the inside of the belt, grabbing it and uncuffing himself which was a little difficult given the fact the links in these cuffs didn’t give much space for movement. He stood up and dusted himself off, stretching his shoulders as he walked over to the table that had his weapons, making sure everything was there before snooping a little through bags and finding something to eat. Which happened to be a bag of chips, not really his preferred flavor... but the potato chips would do he supposed. He sat on the couch in the motel grabbing the TV remote already flipping through channels and waiting for them to finish their ‘super-secret’ conversation. He glanced up when the door opened again and gave an annoyed sigh when Farah aimed the gun back at him. “How did you-”

“You missed the handcuff key hidden under my belt. But hey, look at that, you’re still alive, and I didn’t arm myself even though I very easily could have.” He leaned back and put his arms over the back of the couch. Farah took in a deep breath obviously very annoyed with the situation as he just smiled at her and kicked his feet up on the coffee table. “Tell me about these guys tryin’ to keep this crystal from you.” He waited watching as Svlad actually stepped forwards, fiddling with his tie again before taking in a deep breath.

“Before we talk about the case, we just want to go over some ground rules.” Priest rolled his eyes and leaned his head back with a tired sigh. “Mr. Priest-”

“Look Svlad-”

“That’s not my name anymore!” He actually snapped it at him, Priest smiled as he looked back to the boy, watching how that tough guy act easily faltered. How his eyes filled to the brim with tears and he looked scared as he took a step back from under his gaze. “That’s not my name.” Trying to continue to sound confident but he just looked like the scared little child he always was. Priest drummed his fingers on the couch, amused smile slowly taking over his face.

“Dirk, just slips my mind now that I see you. Still that small scared child you always were.” He mused the words, he couldn’t stop his giggle when Todd actually kicked his feet off the coffee table. Even going so far as to grabbing his shirt and yanking on it to make him sit up. Which Priest only humored that so he wouldn’t rip it, he actually liked this shirt-

“You’re going to call him by his name, and you’re not allowed to make comments like that or do anything else hurtful to him. Do you understand me?”

“Todd, if it weren’t for the massive amounts of pain Hugo would put me in, I would have broken every bone in your hand by now. So why don’t we cut the bullshit?”

“Why don’t you cut the bullshit!” Todd snapped back at him and Priest just smiled with what little patience he had left while gripping the back of the couch.

“You guys don’t like me anymore than I like you. I’m here to do a job which involves keepin’ ya alive. But that is all I’m goin’ ta be doin’ here, Darlin’.” Todd stood up straight, still glaring at him before rather roughly letting him go and shoving him back into the couch. “We done with this whole charade of you guys havin rules and knowin what you’re doin yet?”

“Priest.” He looked at Farah, standing up with an amused smile when Todd just clenched his fists and glared at him.

“Look, Miss Black, I won’t do nothin’ that ain’t necessary.” Which was a lie, he would do a lot of unnecessary things if he could get away with it. “I’ll keep to myself, y’all can pretend like I’m not here. Hell maybe I can even get my own room and you guys can just bug me when you’re leavin to go follow psychic boy here.”

“I’m not psychic-”

“Do you guys actually have any real food here?” He ignored him, while motioning to the bag he stole the chips from. “Or should I go out to-”

“If you’re wanted you shouldn’t be leaving the motel.” Svlad... Dirk, pointed out from his spot.

“Who really even checks FBI’s most wanted anyway?” He glanced up when he noticed Dirk pointing at the TV, eyes following and sure enough there was a picture of him and the news talking about him. He picked up the remote to turn up the volume as he stepped closer to the TV. Annoyance growing in his stomach as the news anchor began her little speech.

_\--”FBI is currently on the lookout for Osmund Priest. Osmund Priest is forty-eight years old, six feet and two inches tall, has blonde hair, blue eyes, and is recently reported to have a wound going down the middle of his face from his forehead to his chin. He is currently wanted for Attempted Assassination of a High-Ranking Officer, and Treason for his crimes against the United States.”_  He gripped the remote so hard he was sure he was going to break it.  _“He has been reported as extremely dangerous and potentially armed. Law Enforcement requests you report any sightings immediately and that you do not engage with this man. In other news-”_  He threw the remote hard enough he actually  _broke_  the TV.

“Hey, we watch that-”

“I’m going to kill him,” he was giggling while walking over to the table where his weapons were. Already loading his hand gun, cocking it and checking the chamber before shoving it in his holster ignoring the fact Farah was moving now and probably aiming a gun at him. “I’m going to hunt that asshole down,” putting his knives back in their sheaths, “and I’m going to fucking kill him.” Stopping to rest his hands on the table as he stared at the weapons. “Give him a heads up to get out of there and he goes and pulls this shit.” He took in a deep breath before laughing at himself for that stupid decision. “Shouldn’t have been surprised he did kill Hugo.” Muttering to himself feeling so stupid for bothering to warn him he should have seen this coming. Maybe he just didn’t want to, thought Ken wouldn’t betray him for some stupid reason. He was such an  _idiot_. “He’s acting like I  _wanted_  this. Can you believe that?”

“Mr. Priest-” 

“Are you fucking kidding me, Ken!?” He grabbed the table his weapons were on while flipping it, watching the chaos as everything clattered to the floor, he stared at it feeling unsatisfied, laughing to himself as he ran his hands through his hair. “Like I  _wanted_ to destroy Blackwing so I can play goddamn babysitter.” Crouching down and resting his elbows on his knees as he dragged his hands down to press the balls of them into his eyes. Trying not to let that sea of emotions take over, but he was so pissed, he was so angry and still felt so emotionally raw over losing everything.

“Uhm-”

“What!? What do you want now!?” He snapped not even looking at the boy while pulling his hands away from his face. Grunting as he rubbed at his eyes when he noticed the tears in them again when he had pulled his hands away. There was a long pause and he could hear movement behind him so he finally bothered to turn his head and see Svlad actually kneeling next to him. Looking so fucking concerned, he wanted to punch him, the thought so strong he could feel his hand pulsating that burning heat. He looked to his hand and noticed blood on it and grunted as he moved it back to his face to see if he messed with the wound again... hand touching his face finding the trail on the side of it and followed it up to the side of his head near his temple where he had a nice gash there... Supposed he should clean that up.

“Did you just say you  _destroyed_  Blackwing?” He couldn’t stop giggling, his giggle turning into slightly broken laughter as he worked on trying to hold the tears back from actually hearing the question being asked.

“This... complicates things.” He could hear Farah in the background before there was a knock on the door.

“Is everything okay in there?”

“Yes, everything is fine!” Farah called back to the person talking to them through the door. Priest finally shifted and forced himself to stand up. “How are we supposed to pay for the damages-”

“What do you mean we? Osmund over there did it!” He didn’t even feel like correcting him. Just rubbed his face trying to calm down.

“Mr. Priest... I just am having a hard time understanding why Hugo would employ you for this job... and why you... why you had to do what you did if you didn’t want to. I mean it makes it sound like you’re-” Priest moved a hand grabbing the collar of his shirt, tugging it down, knowing the boy would be able to see the top of his vivisection scar which was old and faded before he got to showing the tattoo over his heart which branded him as a project. He could see Svlad falling backwards sitting on the ground and staring at him with a mix of anger and betrayal as Priest slowly released his shirt. Todd quickly moving over to help Dirk get up and pull him away from him.

“What did he do?” Todd asked sounding concerned.

“He... He’s... a Blackwing Project.” Priest leaned his head forwards to rub the back of his neck, still trying to stay calm. “He’s-”

“Did you take my Suburban with you guys or did you leave it in the alley?” He asked slowly standing back up and turning around to look at them, Farah was hesitant before she responded.

“We took it with us.” He nodded while crossing his arms over his chest.

“Should have a bag in the spare tire compartment full of cash.” He walked over to the table slowly picking it up and putting it upright as he worked on putting the weapons back on it. Setting them up in order of size and laying them out neatly as he heard Todd and Dirk head out the door probably to go check his story about the cash as Farah stayed to keep an eye on him. Listening as she put her gun away with a heavy sigh, when he glanced back at her he could see she still was resting her hand over it. 

“So, you’re like Dirk, Bart, Mona, and Francis?” She had asked tilting her head while keeping her eyes narrowed on him.

“Holistic Bounty Hunter is my job, it’s annoying and complicated but I am...  _was_  useful to Blackwing. But enough about that.” Didn’t feel the need to get into it, didn’t want to get into it. “You have my phone? There’s someone I can call to try and fix this.” He looked back to what he was doing, standing up right when he felt he had everything in an order he was okay with looking at, no longer just a massive pile but nicely laid out.

“Priest, I’m not going to just hand you a phone-”

“What exactly are you so worried I’m going to do, Miss Black?” He turned around to face her while leaning against the table. Just needed a distraction from everything right now but he felt like he was just continued to be on this stupid topic. “Don’t exactly have a place I'm welcome anymore.”

“Then who are you going to call?” Arms crossing over her chest as she tilted her head with an unamused expression on her face. He gave an annoyed sigh, hating to have to explain himself to someone, let alone people he didn’t much care for. 

“There’s a woman, Monique, she’s part of Project Valkyries and also works at the very top of Home Land Security, I’m sure there’s strings that can be pulled to clean up this mess Ken left me with.” He motioned towards the broken TV, Farah was just sighing while moving her hands back to her hips and lowering her head.

“I don’t trust that you’re not going to try anything to fix whatever happened with you and Blackwing.” Fix...  _Fix_. He doubted there was a fix, he couldn’t stop laughing at the thought.

“Miss Black, if I thought there was anythin’ I could do to fix what I’ve done you and Todd would be dead while I hand delivered Svlad-”

“Dirk.”

“ _Whatever_ , to my boss.”

“Not  _whatever_  his name is Dirk.” She stated it firmly, even took a step closer to him with narrowed eyes. “And if you want your phone back then you’re going to have to prove that we can trust you.”

“As I stated earlier I’m in some weird contract with an otherworldly being who wouldn’t even allow me to hurt you guys. Which trust me, Farah, when I held you in my sights I felt it would have been funny to kill you. And low and behold I saved your life instead.” He mused the words, watching her tap her foot with impatience.

“That doesn’t help with the whole trust thing.” He rolled his eyes while looking around the motel.

“Trust is a two-way street, Miss Black.” She was looking away but still watching him out of the corner of her eye. Looked like she was thinking about something before she turned to fully face him.

“You know, with being wanted we should probably just toss your phone. You should  _know_  that being an agent.”

“That isn’t  _my_  phone, I tossed that shit days ago. That’s a gift from an old friend... the phone, the weapons, the car, the money. All a nice little parting gift from someone who knew me during retirement.” He looked up when Todd and Dirk came back into the room with a large black duffle bag they set on the coffee table. He watched as Todd opened it and looked to the stacked piles of cash that was just sitting in it. Farah looked stunned as she stepped closer to the bag, checking all of it. “All unmarked bills, emergency money for if a job goes south... You know Miss Black, you ever get tired of workin with these two I’m sure I can get my old friend to hook you up with a nice job.” The woman just gave him an annoyed look as she set the stack she was looking through down.

“I am  _perfectly_ fine where I am.” She stated and he just shrugged his shoulders, watching as Dirk shifted and turned to face him.

“Suit yourself.” Priest mused out the words getting an annoyed look from Todd and Farah. Dirk looked like he was in the middle of thinking something over before he finally turned to face him.

“Dirk... don’t.”

“Look, I had you guys help me take him back here for a reason. We all know we could have easily just left him at the warehouse but something was telling me we needed him. And since that appears to be Mr. Priest’s story of him actually being here to help us, we should roll with it like we do everything else that’s insane.” For once he found himself actually agreeing with the boy, an amused smile pulling across his face as Todd moved closer to Dirk.

“I don’t want you to work with someone who tortured you your whole childhood-”

“Not his  _whole_  childhood, we were  _great_  friends once.” He mused the words, could see the boy frowning before he turned to face him.

“Shut up!” Todd snapped at him.

“There was this woman,”

“Dirk.” Todd sounding concerned while grabbing for his hand, Dirk just squeezed Todd’s to comfort him before walking closer.

“Her name is Cheryl, she came into the agency a few days ago and reported one of her crystals from her crystal collection went missing.” He was fumbling around in his pockets, watching as the boy pulled out a slip of paper and unfolded it to show a copy of a photo of a pure black crystal that was oddly misshapen and had what looked like a galaxy design towards the bottom. He reached out and took the paper from him, amused by the fact the boy flinched from it before taking in a calming breath. “We started to do what we usually do in cases and eventually figured out it was being stored at a bakery. Where we went to pick it up in the middle of a deal of the baker giving it to some strange man. Like he was super tall.” Raising his hand way up above his head and getting on his tippy toes to describe the man. “Completely bald except for this like giant mustache thing, like one of those big cartoony bushy ones that looked like it was eating his face? Anyway, he asked what we were doing there, and I said ‘Obviously we’re here to get the crystal.’ and then he just looks to his men who were all trying to eat cake and they proceeded to  _shoot_ at us. It was a mess... like a huge mess honestly. The big guy got the Crystal and took off, we managed to escape but they left behind a card naming that warehouse we were at earlier. We went to see if we could sneak in and get the Crystal but  _of course_  it wasn’t there, and then we found you fighting Farah, and Todd smashed you in the face with a two by four, and here we are now.” He slowly handed the paper back to him, hand moving to rub his jaw before he looked passed the boy and over to Farah.

“You see what company they were working for?” Farah was crossing her arms over her chest before shaking her head.

“No, their uniforms are unmarked. No company logo or anything. I even did my best to check and see what companies I could find in the area, and those I did don’t have the same uniforms, nor have I found job information that ties in with anything from my contacts.” Priest gave a small ‘hmm’ thinking it over wondered if Ronda might have any information, it’s obviously another type of private militia.

“Any cults in the area?”

“What?” Todd asked with a confused expression and Priest just shrugged.

“A lot of cult compounds have militia like forces, keep their sheep nice and protected under some guise of it being there due to their ‘oppression’ or some bullshit. When in reality it’s there as a silent threat, to any law enforcement keeping tabs on them. Most places don’t want to start a war with them given half the time no one in the cult knows what they’re doing. Too  _‘complicated’_ and  _‘against_ _ethics’_  and all that.” Waving his hand boredly.

“I’m sure it’s not a cult, Mr. Priest.” Svlad stated with a small snort, Priest arched a brow while looking back to him, having half the mind to bring up the fact the body swappers were a cult. Before the boy looked excited to share something. “But enough about that! At the warehouse, I found this.” He dug in his jacket pocket this time and pulled out a box of matches. Priest stared at it with a blank expression before looking to the boy who was smiling like he found something important.

“A box of matches, how great.” He stated sarcastically, Todd and Farah were actually moving over to look at it though.

“Why didn’t you bring this up earlier?” Farah asked while taking the box from his hand and looking it over. Wondering what was so special about the stupid matches, he took in a deep breath supposing he could humor all of this for now.

“Well, come on Farah, we were kind of in the dilemma of what to do with our, gosh what did you call yourself now, Mr. Priest? Babysitter?” Snarky tone in his voice looking so amused, Priest narrowed his eyes on him before rolling them.

“What a great fucking job, right?” He snarked back, slowly walking over and noticing Svlad take a step back to keep distance as he joined Farah in looking at the box.

“The Worm Hole... I wonder if that’s some type of bar?” He held his hand out and she slowly passed it to him. He looked the box over and turned it around while showing her the back of it where there was rather tiny print at the bottom. “Address, alright, looks like we have out next location.”

“Oh! This is exciting!” Svlad was bouncing on his toes. “We should leave immediately-”

“Wait. Wait. Just hold on a second.” They all looked to Todd who motioned at Priest. He slowly tilted his head with interest when Todd took in a deep breath. “We can’t take him with us, like everyone is going to be looking for him, he’s not exactly discreet in appearance.” Priest glanced down at himself, feeling like he looked rather discreet in his black leather jacket, black shirt that said ‘I Would Prefer Not To’ in white letters, black jeans, and black boots to match. He arched a brow while looking back to the man who pointed at his face. Which is when it all clicked, because thanks to Panto he had a rather large and noticeable cut...

“I can’t really do anything about my face Todd.” He mused the words getting a heavy sigh and noticing Farah shift.

“He’s right though, with the description they gave of you, people will start calling you in immediately.” Couldn’t really do his job if he stayed here, he could feel his brand burning with a warning. And couldn’t help how Dirk looked at it, making him wonder if he could see that it was starting to hurt him.

“Then give me my phone.” He stated the words harshly, Farah took a step back from him and Priest gave an annoyed groan. “Look, even if y’all decide to leave me here I’m going to have to follow anyway.” Motioning to his hand Dirk just glanced at it before crossing his arms over his chest. “This lovely thing right here will select mission priority, which is to keep you alive. Can’t do that if I ain’t there.”

“You don’t even want to go anyway, there’s no point at putting us all at risk because some dead guy said you had to keep us safe! Besides Farah can handle that, she has for a long time so we don’t need you.” Todd was walking closer to him looking ready to fight him which was sparking his interest.

“Hugo disagrees, even says he’s had to step in for this one.” Priest retorted following the boy’s lead, hands dropping to his sides as he got closer to the boy. Swore the boy almost growled at him, reminded him of a little dog in all honesty.

“We don’t need you.” Saying it while taking what Priest assumed was an intimidating stance from Todd.

“Maybe we can find a disguise for him?” Dirk asked, trying to be helpful but really Priest wasn’t in the mood for all this bullshit, he just wanted to kill some people, eat some real food, and go the fuck to sleep. He watched as Dirk actually grabbed Todd and started to pull him away from him. “Like cover his face or something?”

“Cause that won’t be unnoticed.” Bite of sarcasm in his voice, Svlad on the other hand just turned to look at Todd and Farah.

“What did you guys do when you were wanted by the FBI?” Dirk finally asked, Todd shifted and crossed his arms over his chest tapping his foot.

“Dyed my hair black and wore sunglasses.” Priest blinked when they all looked at him and he couldn’t stop himself from laughing.

“Did… did that actually work?” Dirk asked in slight awe.

“Yeah, for a while until I had an attack in front of Sherlock.” Todd stated while rubbing the back of his neck. Priest clicked his tongue not thinking that would be enough to hide himself. Also curious how that worked given Todd had dark hair to begin with.

“Look, let me walk around with a machine gun and no one’s going to notice me.” Farah was letting out a heavy sigh and rubbing her face.

“I believe the exact opposite is going to happen if we allow that Priest.” Dirk perked up and held a hand out, getting everyone to look at him.

“And you don’t need any more weapons! You already have way more than I’m comfortable with.” Todd snapped, Priest just smiled while shifting in his stance.

“Wait. He might actually have a point...” Dirk finally stated.

“What do you mean he might have a point!?” Priest only knew Todd for a short while and he already found himself wanting to fight him. Felt like that would be fun and entertaining, easily knock him into his place-

“I mean there were times when... when Priest would...” Dirk trailed off, looking away, Priest couldn’t stop his amused smile. “When...”

“Huntin’ poor dangerous little Dirk Gently gunnin’ people down in the streets and no one said or did anything even with how much he cried.” He could see Todd holding Dirk’s hand as the boy looked away.

“Stop. Doing. That.” Todd snapped through gritted teeth and Priest couldn’t stop himself from giggling as Farah went silent. 

“That’s part of  _my_ Holistic deal, no one seems to notice me when they should.” He mused the words while turning to head over to the table full of guns. The boy was looking at him like things were suddenly making sense about all the weird things that had happened with him.

“And if it doesn’t work, then what?” Farah asked under her breath as Priest loaded the machine gun, he could feel the tension as he put the strap over his shoulder so the gun was behind him. Turning to look at them and shrugging his shoulders before pulling his gloves on and slipping his hands in his jacket pockets.

“Then I guess we can try dying my hair and giving me sunglasses.” He mused the words out, really not feeling like that would do anything. Farah shifted a bit before turning to look at him, taking in a deep breath.

“Okay, so before we go, Priest, there really needs to be some ground rules-”

“Only kill the bad guys. Don’t kill innocent people, blah, blah, blah, yeah, I get it. I get that talk a lot.” Stated with a wink.

“You get that talk a lot because you don’t listen.” He couldn’t stop his giggle from Svlad’s bitter tone. He grinned while looking over to the boy who was still holding Todd’s hand, he let his eyes linger and noticed the boy squeezing it tighter.

“So, we takin separate cars, assumin’ y’all don’t trust me enough yet to have me sittin with you-”

“We’re going in the same car, and since yours is roomier.” She stated trailing off so they could guess from there which car they were taking. He grunted while taking a more military stance, hands crossed behind his back as he raised his head. “I don’t want you alone with anyone in the back, and I don’t trust you not to do anything stupid, so you will be in the passenger's seat, handcuffed, to something while I drive. Am I clear?” He moved to lean in, smiling down to her while running his tongue over his bottom lip.

“Crystal.” Mused the word and smiled wider when Dirk actually laughed from that little pun.

“This is a bad idea.” Todd muttered under his breath. “What if he just kills us at this Worm Hole place?”

“I don’t think he will.” Could see Dirk glancing at his branded hand again. “And before we go... maybe we should take care of the new wound on your head?” Dirk asked while tilting his head at him. Priest sighed from the reminder, watching as Farah was the one to guide him to the bathroom and show him the first aid kit. He grabbed it and pulled his gloves off to work on cleaning the blood off himself, grabbing more butterfly bandaids and sticking them on his head to hold the split that was there together before stepping out to look at the trio who were waiting for him. Farah had Dirk and Todd lead the way, slipping the ‘Do Not Disturb’ sign on the door as they headed down the halls and towards the parking lot where the car was.

“I am curious how y’all managed to load me in a car and get me into the motel.” He mused the words, listening to Farah sigh as she rubbed her face.

“It wasn’t  _easy_ , you’re rather heavy.” She stated and Priest couldn’t stop his laugh as they headed out the back door to the car, Farah waiting for him to climb in before looking what to cuff him to. He finally just sighed and moved his hands towards the handle on the roof of the car, watching her look to him before thinking it over. Like she was worried it would be too noticeable.

“I mean if you’re so worried people will notice,” he moved his machine gun so it was in his lap as he leaned back in his seat. “Then I promise not to do anything.” He mused the words, could hear Farah sigh while motioning for him to put his hands back. He shifted before doing as requested, amused smile on his face as he watched her cuff one of his wrists, looping the cuffs through the handle before securing them on his other. She shut his door and walked around to the driver’s side, getting in and starting it before taking off out of the parking lot.

“What did happen to your face, Mr. Priest?” He could hear Svlad ask trying to break the rather uncomfortable silence in the car as Farah drove them towards The Worm Hole. Priest ran his tongue over his lip before turning the best he could to glance back at him.

“Bart’s friend Panto managed to get me during an attempt to get her to come with us.” He mused the words while leaning his head back. “Everything would have been just fine if someone didn’t have the bright idea to try and attack them.” He muttered under his breath before sitting up more and glancing over to them with an amused smile.

“I’m definitely still team Panto.” He could hear Todd mutter under his breath, hearing how that made Dirk giggle a bit.

“So you two dating?” Priest mused the words our while glancing back at them. Could see Dirk quickly quieting as he held Todd’s hand tighter.

“Yeah. Is that a problem?” Todd snapped and Priest just grinned while looking away.

“Look at that, Little Svlad’s all grown up.”

“His name is Dirk!” Todd snapped and Priest just waved his hand in reply before Farah cleared her throat. Priest looked back ahead and could see a custom stretch limo made out of some type of SUV sitting in front of The Worm Hole. Could hear Dirk sitting up more in his seat and taking in a deep breath.

“That’s the car that was outside of the bakery.”

“Guess your mustache friend is here.” Priest mused out the words as Farah parked far enough away the car wouldn’t be seen.

“And way too spendy to be a cult member.” Dirk stated.

“That’s not-”

“Necessarily true, if this is the person that started the cult and is profiting off possible child labor, and whatever other disgusting things they’re doing there then he could easily afford that. A lot of people who are in the head of cults have a lot of money.” Priest was giggling when Farah finished his thought for him, a lot more nicer than he was going to put it.

“Don’t tell me you’re on this bullshit cult theory too.” Todd groaned from the back.

“Priest does have a point, a lot of them are militia based, and do have means to provide funding like that. Maybe the crystal is important to their cult somehow, I mean it is a complete mystery what it’s made of.” Yeah... Priest found himself really liking Farah, he couldn’t stop his smile as they got out and Farah hesitantly uncuffed him. He climbed out and rubbed his wrists before stretching, quickly catching Svlad by the back of his jacket and listening to him squeak as he pulled him back.

“Whoa, now, little bird, where exactly do you think you’re goin.” He let go and grinned at Todd who actually hit his hand, an amused giggle slipping passed his lips as Svlad blinked before looking over to him.

“To The Worm Hole,  _obviously_.” Priest clicked his tongue while looking from him over to the bar motioning to it before turning to Farah seeing as she was the sensible one in this little group.

“We need a plan incase things get a little  _zany_  in there. Looks like they got bodyguards at the door.” He stated watching as Farah looked it over with a calculating look.

“Maybe there’s a back door.” Dirk suggested, Priest looked over to him, a small giggle leaving his lips as he crossed his arms over his chest.

“Back door probably leadin’ into a big group of em.” He mused listening to Svlad and Todd both of whom just sighed, the shorter male taking Dirk’s hand and starting to walk.

“Wait, Todd!” Farah called out yet still had a hushed tone to her voice.

“We’re wasting time, we’re going to do what we always do.” Priest watched them and felt the intense need to follow, almost over powering like it was his only thought. He clicked the safety off his gun seeing Farah eyeing him as he started to walk after the two idiots ahead of them.

“Sure you still like your job, Farah?” He mused the words with a little giggle as he listened to the woman sigh heavily behind him before she followed after. Dirk and Todd reached the door first, Priest hanging back a bit and at the ready to act if the body guards gave them any trouble.

“This is a private event.” Dirk was just nodding to the man and Priest gave an amused smile curious what the boy’s plan was to even get in.

“Ah yes, the private event, that’s what we’re here for.” He informed and Priest glanced at Farah who was getting closer, Priest could tell the body guard was skeptical while pulling out a clipboard with a list of what he was assuming was guests.

“Right... What’s your name?” Dirk was giving what sounded like a nervous laugh now while leaning against the podium that was there.

“Well, that’s  _private_ of course.” The man just looked to the boy with an annoyed expression. Priest looked to Farah who was eyeing as the second body guard started to get closer.

“You didn’t happen to take any of that cash with you, did ya?” He asked in a hushed tone as Dirk kept insisting with the body guards they were on the list while dodging giving an actual name, Farah nodded while pulling out one of the wads of cash. He took it and walked over setting the money on the podium, watching how the body guard looked from it up to him. He gave a charming smile while leaning in.

“We heard from a good friend about this place, promise we won’t cause any trouble.” The guard took the money and flipped through the stack of hundred-dollar bills before looking to the other guard who opened the door for them.

“We’ll be keeping an eye on you.” Priest just grinned while pushing the two boys through the door, Farah close behind them. He could hear the door close as they walked in deeper, getting into another room where there were more guards and what looked like a metal detector they would have to go through. 

“Don’t happen to have any more of that cash now, do ya, Darlin’?”

“No, that was it.” Farah said in a hushed whisper, Priest nodded while counting how man guards were there. Seeing a camera in the corner of the room as they walked through the metal detector, Farah, himself, and Todd making that green light flash red as the body guards stepped closer.

“We ask that you relinquish all weapons and electronics here.” Of course they would. “They’re not allowed into the auction.” Priest tilted his head at that working on trying to figure out how to get out of this one as he glanced at the camera before looking back ahead.

“Right... uhm, about that...” Dirk started but the moment was thankfully interrupted by the man putting his hand over his ear like he was suddenly getting orders. He could see the man blink before looking up at them again while stepping to the side and pulling open a curtain.

“Mr. Gourd would like to see you in the VIP section.” Priest narrowed his eyes and sighed to himself when Todd pulled Dirk through the curtain into the room on the other side. And immediately Priest couldn’t help but notice how much they stood out, everyone in the place was dressed in fine clothes, drinking wine and smoking cigars. The smell making his nose twitch as he walked over and leaned over a railing to look over everything, seeing a stage in the middle with what looked like places to stage things. So this was a nice black market auction, he couldn’t help but notice a woman walking over to them. White dreadlocks pulled into a nice pony tail that managed to have them fall over her right shoulder. She was taking a sip of the wine she was holding and Priest couldn’t stop his giggle as he stood up.

“Monique, the hell are you doin here?” She just smiled and Priest noticed Farah perking up as the woman looked between all of them.

“Introduce me to your friends, Osmund.”

“We’re not friends.” Todd groaned out the word and Priest just grinned as he watched her smile faintly. But she was already holding a hand out and he quickly caught Dirk’s when the boy stupidly reached for it.

“Don’t you do what I think you’re tryin’ ta do Monique.” He was even standing in front of Dirk who looked surprised by what just happened. Ignoring how Todd was pulling the boy away from both of them as the woman just smiled.

“I can see what Ronda was talking about, that is one pretty mark.” He felt annoyed they could all see or feel it but was now glad it was just on his hand and not over his heart like Hugo was going to try to do in the car so he wouldn’t try to cut it off. “May I?” She held her hand out to him instead.

“Depends, you gonna try to brainwash me like she did?” He mused the words, noticing Svlad peak around him.

“Wait, is she one of-”

“Valkyries is what they named my group.” She mused over her wine glass before motioning over towards a certain section of the facility which had stairs that went up higher. “Mr. Gourd is something of an entrepreneur, finds a lot of things to auction to make a lot of money... Sometimes certain people.” Priest narrowed his eyes on her as she stared at him, he slowly held his hand out to her. Watching as she took it and pulled him close, leaning in so she could speak in her ear. “I would work on a plan how to get them out of this, Oz, unless you want them to join you.” She cleared her throat and stepped back. “Now, we shouldn’t keep Mr. Gourd waiting any longer, shall we? He gets so  _suspicious_ you know.” She said under her breath as she started walking. Her golden dress shining in the light making it almost sparkle against her dark skin. Priest took in a deep breath not really sure how he was feeling about this situation.

“Valkyries work through mind control, it only works with touch. So, don’t let her touch you.” He stated softly, slowly walking after her, Farah was quick to be by his side. “And I need you and Todd to give me your weapons.”

“I’m sorry-”

“Farah, trust me, I’m wanted, you’re not, Monique said he auctions people. Why do you think they let me in?” He mused she could see her take in a deep breath, pulling her gun out discreetly as he took it and stuffed it in the back of his pants before holding a hand out towards Todd.

“What are you doing?” He asked in a hushed whisper towards Farah.

“Todd, I think it’s best for all of us if we listen.” There was a sudden increase in guards and Todd was hesitant but pulled out his brass knuckles and put them in his hand. He quickly pocketed them before the exchange was noticed.

“One thing I don’t understand is I thought you said Monique was-”

“Probably don’t blow her cover here, Farah?” He mused out earning an annoyed sigh from the woman as they followed her up a flight of stairs and opened a door for them, they all walked in and Todd was keeping an eye on Monique now as he made sure to keep Dirk away from her. They looked to the man who was sitting at a desk, leaning back and putting out a cigar.

“Welcome to The Worm Hole, Osmund Priest.” He was grinning, looking him over like he was already working out a price tag for him. “I know you’re not on the list, would remember inviting a man wanted for treason.” Priest wouldn’t be surprised if most the people in this place were wanted for something along those lines. “Then my lovely assistant here came up with a good idea that could make all of us a lot of money.” He glanced over as the guards in the room all aimed their guns at them. “Why not auction off the chance of someone getting such a handsome reward for your capture... or whatever else the winner happens to want to do to you.” He took in a deep breath from that seeing Dirk, Todd and Farah half raising their hands from the guns. Priest just clicked his tongue before giving a small giggle.

“Why not let them go then, they ain’t a part of this.” He mused the words out.

“Accomplices.” The man added and Priest couldn’t stop himself from laughing at that giggling more as he moved to cross his hands behind his back.

“Accomplices? Please, they’re  _insurance_ , I broke into their house and kidnapped them.” Lying easily, the man just gave a deep hardy laugh.

“Yet you armed two of them?” Priest tilted his head.

“Did I?” The man motioned some of his guard’s forwards and they stepped over to search the three behind him. The guards only finding phones they confiscated and set on the table for Mr. Gourd. He looked at them before motioning to the other guards.

“Put them in the back for now till this is over.” Monique smiled and followed after, walking with them as two guards lead Farah, Todd, and Dirk out of the room. He watched as the man stood up, and Priest worked on counting the guards in the room, looked like four and then Mr. Gourd who didn’t seem like too much of a threat. Wished he had a silenced weapon to handle this situation, guessed he could use a knife, but knives weren’t always the best in gun fights. “Disarm and restrain Mr. Priest.” He watched as the man turned his back as the guards moved closer, Priest waited till one was stupid enough to grab him. Grabbing the man and breaking his arm while moving to use him as a temporary human shield as he stood so Mr. Gourd was behind them knowing they would be less willing to shoot that way. He could see the man turning around from the commotion and he quickly kicked the guard forwards into the others, unsheathing his knife and pressing it against Gourd’s throat. Looking to the men who had straightened out and aimed their guns at him.

“Drop the weapons or I kill him.” He snapped the words, the man was shifting and motioning for them to lower their weapons, watching as they dropped them. “All of your weapons.”

“Do... Do what he says.” Priest clicked his tongue while forcing the man’s head up with the knife, letting it cut into his skin as the guards slowly followed the order. He waited till they were done while shifting in his stance.

“Cuff one another.” They grumbled and did as asked till the last guard was uncuffed. He motioned the man closer. “Give Mr. Gourd here your cuffs and turn around.” Letting Mr. Gourd cuff the last guard before he stabbed the knife into the man’s heart, covering his mouth to prevent any noise from coming out before pulling the knife out and watching the body drop. He could see the surprise from the other guards as he started to giggle and moved quick, taking one down and killing him. Throwing the knife into the back of another that tried to run for the door before pulling out his boot knife and killing the last two. Wiping the blood off on his leg he walked over to the guard laying on his face by the door, slowly dragging the knife out of his back before stabbing him a few more times to make sure he was dead and sliding the knife back into it’s sheath. Looking at the mess he headed out of the room, only to find himself running into Monique who peeked around him at the mess left in the office. He closed the door while stepping out and she sighed heavily.

“Could have left Mr. Gourd alive, I was building a nice case against him.”

“He seemed like he would be the type to eat through a gag.” He mused while walking down the stairs with her, “Where’s the Scooby Gang?”

“Oh, I influenced the guards to let them go, they’re in the middle of searching for something I told them I would help you out, but of course you already killed everyone.” She mused the words, he rolled his eyes as he started to walk.

“Guess I’ll have to find them.”

“They’re not hard to miss.” She called after him as he walked down the stairs when he saw Dirk’s colorful jacket in the crowd. He was glancing around while slowly moving through, looking to see if he could see the man who Dirk had described back at the motel, but he wasn’t seeing anyone like that as he delved deeper, finding Farah who was on look out and standing next to her.

“I don’t know if I’m happy to see you or not.” She stated under her breath causing him to grin.

“Please, without me y’all would still be standing outside, or you wouldn’t have this.” Was slipping her gun back to her before heading towards where he saw Dirk, easily seeing Todd with him he pulled out the brass knuckles and grabbed Todd’s hand transferring them to him.

“Mr. Priest.” Dirk looked surprised as Todd looked at the brass knuckles and slowly put them away in his pocket. “Monique is amazing, I’m so glad she actually seems to like you.” He laughed at that while slipping his hands in his jacket pockets.

“She actually hates me, but Ronda likes me so she’ll humor my existence, you find what you’re looking for?” He mused the words and Dirk just sighed, he looked over to Todd when the man stood between them, forcing a space there. He was heavily amused by the very protective behavior the boy had, honestly feeling in a better mood after killing some people. In fact, he still had a grin on his face as he looked around, he couldn’t help but notice Dirk staring at him before leaning in.

“Did you kill someone?” He asked in a hushed tone and Priest couldn’t stop himself from giggling, watching the way the boy covered his mouth with a look of horror. “Mr. Priest.” Hushed whisper, a silence started to fall among the crowed and they all looked up as Monique graced the stage. Smile on her face as she walked up to the microphone.

“Good evening, we are now going to begin the auction, we’ll start with our first item.” They watched as she motioned to one of the stands as a man walked out carrying a box, slowly setting it down and pulling off the top revealing the crystal they were looking for. “This item was found and passed around the world, hidden from those that would use it for evil as it’s considered a very powerful weapon.” She was putting on a pair of thick heavy gloves one would use while welding. “Observe.” She held out her hand as a rat was placed into it, walking over to the crystal, hovering the creature by its tail till it reached out and touched it. She turned her head away and they watched as it basically exploded on contact. “Starting bid is one hundred million dollars.” She announced while pulling her gloves off and handing them to the man. People began raising their little flags left and right, the bid getting higher and higher every second.

“So... how exactly were you plannin’ on handlin’ that thing, and transporting it?” Priest asked while looking over to the trio who looked absolutely horrified about the crystal after seeing the display.


	3. Vessel of the Universe

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Plans don’t go so well thanks to the fact no one seems to be able to agree on a plan. The mystery squad end up having one hell of a time trying to figure out what their next move is. And everyone thinks Priest needs to chill except for Priest… and Hugo… but he’s just as blood thirsty so really who’s surprised?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Characters** : Osmund Priest. Dirk Gently. Todd Brotzman. Farah Black. Hugo Friedkin.   
> **Warnings** : Violence. Murder. Infighting. High-Speed Chase. Psychological Torture (Mention of Child Murder. Mention of infanticide.) Attempted Murder. And More Murder. Priest’s POV.   
> **Note** : Priest really does need to chill tho…   
> Also, I laugh how when I state things are a slowburn.   
> A nice make out session happens like so quickly. So, you have that to look forwards to I guess?

“We can’t let anyone get that.” Dirk stated in utter horror, Priest looked from them around the crowd, could see a group of armed people moving near the back and heading for a back door that was there. “And how are we supposed to handle that? It sure would have been nice of Cheryl to be like; ‘Oh, by the way you can’t touch the crystal with your bare hands otherwise you’ll explode.’” Priest could see person originally guarding it opening the door and walking away.

“I don’t get why that group is selling the crystal… you would think they would want it for themselves.” Todd said in a bit of surprise, he could see Dirk nudging the man with an amused smile.

“I mean kind of hard to pass up the fact it’s already at three hundred million dollars.” A bit of sarcasm in his voice as the price just kept rising.

“I don’t think they are selling it. I think they‘re doing this to get money and then stealing it back.” He glanced at Farah seeing she was looking at the same thing he was, Priest grabbed the boys by the back of their jackets and pushed them towards Farah. Hand resting on the hilt of his knife as they moved through the crowd towards the back door. Priest clicked his tongue when he saw Farah getting to the door, about to lead the way.

“Wait, Miss Black, this is what I’m here for.” He mused while stepping in front of her, the woman just sighed and he opened the door, moving his hand to his machine gun as he walked in. Farah drawing her gun as Priest raised his own, walking down the stairs and into what looked like a wine cellar. Priest moved silently on his feet, could hear Todd and Dirk but Farah did a good job keeping silent as well. Priest could hear voices coming from deep within the cellar and he raised a hand to stop Farah who stopped Todd and Dirk. Stepping off the stairs he quickly checked the open doorway on his right, seeing it was clear he stepped back and moved to start walking through the maze of giant wine barrels and wine shelving’s, motioning them to follow.

“This just seems like a lot of work guys. Like… what if it doesn’t even work?” Could hear one of the men as they approached their little gathering area.

“If you want to talk to the boss Joey, no one‘s going to stop you.” Someone replied, could hear them moving something around.

“What… what no… I… I’m okay I’m good, never mind this is totally worth it… God, please don’t tell him I was complaining.” The Joey character sounding nervous from the very idea of their boss finding out something like that. Priest began to check his machine gun while stopping them behind the large barrel he was sure they were behind. Trying to gauge how many people there were and what all they were up to on the other side. “I just worry about that… that thing getting into someone else’s hands like… Did you see what it did to that rat?” Joey continued and he could hear heavy sighs on the other side of the barrel. Sounded like six total, that wasn’t too bad.

“Joey, if you’re going to pussy out then just go wait in the Limo.” A new voice called out, Priest couldn’t stop his grin when the man on the other end went silent.

“No… it’s okay.” Priest glanced back towards Farah and motioned for her to cover him as he turned about to get ready to go in and kill them. He blinked when he felt a hand grab his jacket and tug on it.

“Wait.” He looked to Svlad who talked in a hushed voice. “You might not have to kill them, let’s-” He caught he boy when he tried to walk passed him pulling him away from the corner and shoving him to the side only for Todd to actually move over and punch him in the face. He winced from the sudden explosion of nerves in his nose, hand immediately going to it as tears filled up his eyes from the stinging sensation. Could feel the blood already pouring out of the wound.

“Stop doing that!” Todd snapped at him. He stood up straight, easily towering over him, fingers twitching as he began to reach for the man who actually stood his ground.

“Whose there!” Priest gave the man a blank stare from the fact his little outburst just gave away their position. He grunted when he felt that sudden urge to hit him, but the throbbing in his hand had him turning and aiming his gun right as someone turned the corner. “Oh shit! It’s the-” He immediately opened fire, could hear alarms going off the second he released the trigger.  

“Nice one, Todd.” He muttered under his breath, spitting blood to the side from when it pooled in his mouth.

“Oh, fuck you!” Priest moved forwards turning to see the other men as they shot at the barrel they were behind and opened fire on them. Walking forwards and checking them before looking around to see what they were doing. He glanced over when Dirk ended up next to him, the boy taking in a shaky breath as he walked over to pick up a piece of paper the men seemed to have been looking at.

“It looks like a map.” They all turned their heads when the door at the top of the stairs opened.

“Great, let’s go.” Priest motioned them to go deeper and took point in the back, Farah leading the way for them as Priest began shooting the security guards who ended up finding them as they traveled through the maze of the cellar. “Startin to think that was a distraction team, didn’t have anythin’ to steal the Crystal back with.” Priest mused over the sound of the alarms, grunting when he ended up backing right into Dirk. He turned his head to look at him and saw him staring at the map, turning it over in his hands like he was looking for something. “Now ain’t the time, boy.” He looked back to see if any more security guards were coming before looking to see Todd and Farah working on trying to get the door open that was in front of them. Farah finally stood up and aimed her gun at the lock, having Todd step back as she shot it before kicking it open. Checking the area that opened up to with her gun at the ready to shoot if need be.

“Clear.” They once more continued to walk, Priest could see Svlad was still looking at that stupid map. “This place is huge.” Farah was muttering under her breath, Dirk finally folded up the map and stuffed it into his jacket pocket. “What’s the map to?” She finally asked and the boy just sighed from the question.

“I’m not particularly certain, but I’m sure we’ll find out eventually.” He stated, Priest rolled his eyes as they kept maneuvering the maze of halls, making sure to close doors behind them and hopefully losing the Security’s trail. Had to wipe the blood off his mouth every now and then given it was making it a little difficult to breathe with how much his nose was bleeding. He blinked when they ended up in what looked like a kitchen, the workers there immediately raising their hands as Farah looked them over. Priest turned about to shoot them only for Todd to shove his gun down so it was aiming at the ground.

“You can’t shoot them!” Todd stated in outrage. His irritation with the man only building, he really just wanted to smash the butt of his gun into his face and then proceed to shoot them anyway. He pulled the gun out from under the man’s hand, lowering it as he turned to fully face him. Getting in his face with a dark glare, all the lovely thoughts to how much he wanted to hurt him making his hand seize up with pain.

“Why not?” Priest asked in annoyance, half tempted to raise the gun again as Todd glared up at him.

“Because we said no killing innocent people!” Todd shouted could hear the fearful murmuring from the workers as Priest gave an annoyed groan that actually managed to get some of his blood on the man who stepped back with annoyance and disgust. This part of his mission was definitely going to kill him with the whole… don’t kill ‘innocent’ people thing.

“How do we get out of here?” Farah asked one of the workers, watching as the woman pointed over to large double doors before they started to head that way. Farah motioning him to lead this time and he was sure it was mainly so he couldn’t kill the workers when they weren’t looking. He bit his tongue as he opened one of the doors, gun raised as he looked through, noticing they had ended up looping around so they were near the exit. He could see some armed people running out wearing the same uniforms as the people he was allowed to kill, and quickly took off after them. Had the other three on his heels as he aimed up and shot a few as they were trying to leave. Getting up and out into the open he watched as the Limo took off and held his hand out to Farah.

“Keys.”

“I’m not letting you-”

“You ever done a high-speed chase before?” He asked while pulling off his machine gun and handing it to her, she gave him an annoyed groan and handed him the keys. He let them lead the way as he unlocked the car when it came into view. All of them climbing in as Priest started up the Suburban. “Buckle up this is going to be a fun ride.” He mused while already hitting the gas, tires spinning before they took off, keeping the wheel steady so they didn’t fish tail as he went after the limo which was actually getting some decent speed.

“Do you think they got the crystal? What if it’s still at the auction?” Todd asked from the back, Priest just shrugged while taking a turn when the Limo did. Staying right on its tail and watching as someone stood up to aim at them from the sun roof.

“That’s not good!” Dirk was stating from the back, Priest didn’t bother to move as they opened fire. Bullets hitting the glass and the hood but not doing more than scratching the paint or making small little dents in the windshield.

“What business did you say your old friend was in?” Farah asked as Priest got closer on another turn.

“Well, the front is Private Security, but in reality, it’s a mercenary company. Very high-grade military training, send you all over.” He pressed down harder on the gas grin crossing his face as he swerved around a car getting at the perfect angle he wanted. “Hold on.” He swiped the back tire with the front of the car, watching as it knocked the limo out of where it was going making it go sideways on the road, Priest slamming on his breaks so they wouldn’t ram into it, keeping the car straight as the wheel tugged and jerked in his hand from the force. Just doing everything he could to not cause the SUV to crash or flip. They watched as the limo flipped and rolled before sliding to a stop upside down. Priest glanced back to make sure his charges were okay. They seemed to be rubbing where the seat belts had restrained them but that was it. He put the Suburban into park and kicked open the door, walking out and pulling out his handgun as he grabbed the door to the limo and pulled it open aiming inside at the mess that was there from the fact most people in the back weren’t wearing their seatbelts.

“I’ll check the driver.” Farah said, Priest tilted his head hearing sirens in the distance as he stepped carefully into the upside-down limo. Walking across the roof and stepping over broken glasses and bottles, checking everyone to make sure no one was alive. He could see something in someone’s pocket and pulled it out to see what looked like another map. He pocketed it before walking out of the limo, slowly pulling it back out and handing it to Svlad who took it and looked it over.

“This one’s different.” He pulled out the other one and put them together looking them over. Priest just grunted while grabbing his shirt and tugging it up to hold it against his nose. Which the bleeding had slowed but not as much as he wanted it to. He found his eyes falling on Todd who was still protectively standing next to Dirk. Priest gripped the gun in his hand eyes getting heavy with the thought of shooting him.

“Guys, the driver is still alive.” Priest dropped his shirt as he glanced over towards where Farah had called out. Slipping his gun back in its holster as he spit more blood off to the side. Watching Dirk and Todd head over to the other side before following. Seeing Farah kneeling next to the man in question. She had managed to get him out of the limo and had him lying on the ground, he was very obviously unconscious and from the sirens getting louder he knew the police were getting close by. “We need to ask him questions but…” She trailed off motioning to the sound. Priest sighed heavily while tossing Farah the keys to the Suburban, kneeling down next to the man and picking him up in a fireman’s carry as he started to head to the car.

“Let’s go then.” He mused, Todd and Dirk lead the way and opened the back hatch of the car where Priest set the man down in the back, taking the handcuffs Farah gave him and cuffing him before closing the back and walking around to the passenger’s side. The four of them getting in before Farah drove them away from the chaos and back to the motel.

“Alright, I gotta ask, I can go buy a separate room, right?” Knew this wasn’t really priority right now, but he wanted to get this out of the way now so he knew what was going on. Digging through the glovebox he found what he was looking for and pulled a first aid kit out while pulling the bandaids off his nose. “Or are you guys going to chain me to something when we finally go to sleep?” He arched a brow while looking over to Farah, looking back ahead as he pulled the sun visor down to use the mirror, working on cleaning up the blood on his face before pressing his nose back together and bandaging it back up. Might have to staple it later. He tossed the kit back in the glovebox before pulling of his blood-soaked leather gloves.

“It doesn’t seem like a good idea to leave you alone.” He grunted from the response, meaning they would insist on chaining him to something so he couldn’t ‘hurt them in their sleep.’ How annoying. He grit his teeth while staring out the window and crossing his arms over his chest.

“Guessin’ keepin’ y’all alive isn’t enough for you to trust me to sleep in peace?” Asked in a sarcastic tone.

“Keeping us alive? You almost got us captured and sold for going out while you’re wanted for treason.” Priest clicked his tongue, turning around and reaching back, grabbing Todd by the shirt and yanking him forwards.

“And you almost got us all killed.” He snapped the words back, could feel Farah grabbing him and trying to pull him away from Todd. Svlad was sitting up and trying to pry his hand off Todd’s shirt as Farah pulled harder on his arm to try and get him to let go.

“Mr. Priest-”

“Let go of me.” Todd stated in an annoyed voice, could see him reaching for the brass knuckles in his pocket and Priest just yanked on his shirt again pulling him as far as the boy’s seatbelt would allow. He wanted to hurt Todd, he wanted to kill Todd in all honesty. It was just making his hand throb and spark with pain all the way up to his elbow.

“Go ahead, Todd, get those brass knuckles of yours and see what happens.” Eyes getting heavy just thinking of all the ways he would like to hurt him for this. He could feel his hand throbbing even just from giving the threat. But Todd pulled his hand out of his pocket wearing the brass knuckles and even unbuckled his seatbelt as he moved so he could try to punch him again.  

“Stop it!” Dirk tried as Priest let go of his shirt and caught Todd’s hand making a move to break one of the boy’s fingers, forcing it to straighten out and bending it backwards till that brand started burning. He let go instantly falling back in his seat and grabbing his hand with a pained cry as he doubled over in his seat. Hand now feeling like it was on fire as he hit the dashboard. He could feel bile building in the back of his throat as it transferred into nerve pain that surged through his entire body.  

“Pull over.” Could feel the saliva building in his mouth, Farah hesitated but did as asked and Priest shoved open the door, stumbling out before falling on his knees leaning over as he begin vomiting on the ground. He was definitely going to kill Hugo, he spit off to the side when he was done, grimacing from the taste in his mouth as he shifted and got up, spitting again to try and get the taste out. He wiped his mouth off with the back of his hand and slowly forced himself up to his feet now that the pain had subsided. Stumbling a bit back to the car from the sudden exhaustion that swept over him like he was going to pass out. He slammed the door shut while leaning back in his seat, rubbing his hand which still hurt in a lingering way.

“You… you really can’t hurt us.” Dirk finally stated after a moment of silence that happened as Farah began driving, Priest leaned over and rested the side of his head on the window.

“Tch, yeah, can thank Hugo for that one.” He muttered voice feeling a little slurred as he crossed his arms over his chest. Feeling so drained from that surge of pain.

“Why did Hugo ask you to help us? Why brand you? I’m still trying to understand.” Priest slowly glanced back at the boy could see Farah glancing at him to before he gave an annoyed sigh. Guessing there was no point in lying he finally forced himself to sit up turning slightly in his seat to look towards Dirk who was once more leaning against Todd.

“I was in Chicago, hunting down Incubus and Miss Brotzman-”

“If you hurt her-”

“Relax, Todd, she’s fine.” He muttered bitterly. “We ended up fighting and Miss Brotzman managed to land a nice hit on me with her wand and knocked me off the roof of a building. Which while I was in free fall to my death is when Hugo came to me and offered a hand which I took. And then he proceeded to brand me and inform me that I wasn’t doing what he wanted anymore and now I would have no choice but to listen.” He muttered in annoyance while looking back ahead. “While working on where to go after dropping my team off he told me about your little case and told me I had to help you guys.”

“Weren’t doing what  _he_ wanted?” Dirk asked in curiosity causing Priest to groan.

“He’s like… the universe, I think? Or a vessel for it? I don’t really know.” He shrugged while looking out the window, thinking of the crystal and how much the coloring of it actually reminded him of the place Hugo took him to first.

“Dirk,” he glanced at Farah who was now working on trying to change the subject which he was thankful for. “Have you found anything out about the maps?” She asked, he could hear movement in the backseat now and the rustling of paper.

“Oh! Yeah… I think we have to layer these.” He glanced back from hearing Dirk speak up, seeing the boy leaning against Todd with the papers layered over one another and holding them up to try and get some light to go through. Unfortunately, the light kept passing from the street lights making the boy obviously struggle to see what he was looking at. “And did you see mustache man in the limo, Mr. Priest?” Priest couldn’t help but give an amused smile at the question.

“Nah, just guards.” He informed while looking out the window. “Never saw him at the Auction either.” He stated while shifting in his spot, knowing that didn’t necessarily mean anything though. He could have left in a separate car with the crystal when all the chaos happened. He glanced back when he heard a groan and saw Dirk sit up to look in the back.

“Uh-oh… I think our new friend is waking up.” Thankfully it looked like they were already reaching the motel, Farah parking closest to the door as Priest climbed out and headed to the back. Opening the hatch up and looking to the man who was rubbing his head and looking around.

“You!” He shouted and pointed at Dirk moving to reach for the gun he no longer had with a surprised noise as Priest just grabbed him by the cuffs and dragged him out of the vehicle. Watching him flail and almost fall, tripping into him as Priest started to head towards the door continuing to drag the man behind him. He could hear Farah locking the car as Dirk ran ahead to open the door of the motel for them before leading them to their room. “Hey, hey let me go man, I didn’t do anything-”

“Your group tried to kill us, I ain’t buyin’ you don’t want to either, you were trying to reach for a gun not that long ago.” Priest mused the words out, walking into the motel when the door was opened and shoving the man down in a chair. “Alright, good luck, I’m going to sleep.” He announced while walking over to the couch and promptly laying down on it. Already turning his back to what was going on from the commotion of the man probably trying to fight back and going towards the table where the weapons were. Which he was only guessing that because of the throbbing pain in his hand and the sounds of a struggle behind him.

“Priest, could use some help here.” He heard Farah state in annoyance.

“Nah, I’m just keepin y’all alive. And I doubt y’all will let me torture him so I don’t even want to bother.” He muttered while doing his best to get comfortable. But that annoying throb wouldn’t stop, and it wasn’t even like he could sleep with all the noise in the room no matter how much he wanted to. He groaned and finally got up, walking over as Farah worked on tying the guy to the chair. He stood in front of the man and punched him hard across the face, dazing him long enough for Farah to tie him down. “Okay, now I’m going to sleep. Happy?” Farah just glared at him with a look of annoyance on her face as she stood and dusted herself off. Actually, stepping over to him and grabbing him by the arm as she stood off to the side with him.

“You might actually be helpful with this, and you’re right on the not torturing him thing, but I feel you might have a way to get answers not involving that.” Priest crossed his arms over his chest while thinking on it. There were a few things he could do without physically hurting him sure, but it wasn’t as fun as making them bleed and cry and scream in his hands. Psychological torture only went so far in his books of pleasing tactics. Still used them when necessary but he would also much rather prefer to take out his anger right now on the man in the chair. He finally moved, leaning down to get to her level.

“Oh yeah, psychological shit works wonders, but there’s the little problem of y’all not wanting me to hurt Dirk and I’m sure to send him back down memory lane.” He glanced over to the boy who was close enough to be listening to this. Watching him squirm under his gaze as he ran his tongue over his bottom lip before biting it. Thinking so fondly on how much it was fun to hurt him and hating the fact he couldn’t do it at the moment. “So,” he stood up straight and shrugged his shoulders, “that’s up to you.” He mused the words out, watching Farah sigh as she put her hands on her hips and seemed to be thinking it over.

“I’m not telling you guys shit! Like hell I would betray the boss.” Their captive called out, obviously knowing exactly what they were talking about. Trying to come up with his fate while Priest boredly began checking his nails to see the dirt and blood under them from when he was dealing with fixing his nose.

“And you know, I do have a lot of pent up anger and aggression right now given the unsatisfactory fact that I can’t hurt Todd after what happened today. And then everything with Ken and Hugo…” He trailed off, would really like to hurt all of them as much as he could. But given the fact the brand wouldn’t let him hurt Todd and Hugo and he had no idea where Ken was that wasn’t something he would be able to do. “So, no promises I won’t rough him up.” He added flatly, obviously speaking loud enough now for the man in the chair to start fighting his bindings harder.

“You can’t do that!” The man snapped from the chair he was tied to, trying so hard to get away. It was actually pathetic to watch how he thought he would be able to. But he was curious for the man’s reasoning on why he couldn’t hurt him so he just smiled.

“And why can’t we?” He mused in interest, seeing the man blink at them before narrowing his eyes on him.

“You guys are like… the good guys or some shit.” He stated bluntly, Priest arched a brow while looking to Farah watching her cross her arms before she looked over to Todd. Like she was thinking this over, an interest was slowly filling Priest as he smiled from that.

“I will stop you if I think you’re going to far.” Well, that was a start, he could work with that at least.

“You can’t be serious.” Todd finally stated under his breath while moving closer, clearly having been paying thorough attention to the conversation. Priest glanced over at the man with a grin, enjoying how this was turning out so much. He crossed his hands behind his back before looking back to Farah.

“Todd, maybe you should take Dirk out of here for now.” She said soft enough that the captive wouldn’t be able to hear. Priest couldn’t stop his giggle as he stepped towards their little captive, now really liking Farah. Walking over and then around the man, hands moving behind his back as he circled him. Could already see Dirk out of the corner of his eye moving closer to Todd and holding his hand.

“Come on, let’s go.” He said softly as Todd just looked to Farah to try and talk her out of letting him do this. Or that’s what he was assuming anyway.

“Where’d you guys move the Crystal?” Priest asked, coming to a stop in front of the man as he moved to rest his hands on his thighs and leaned in with a large smile. Eyes getting heavy with interest as the man looked at him then towards the others with uncertainty. “I don’t like repeating myself, I’m going to tell you that now, if I have to it will not end well for you.”

“Priest.” He didn’t even look at Farah, he just kept his eyes locked on the man who looked at him with uncertainty before he shook his head and shrugged his shoulders.

“I’m not telling you guys anything.” Priest stood up straight with an amused smile. Foot moving to rest on the seat of the chair as he began tipping him backwards, watching him tense from the feeling of it.

“Oh, trust me, boy, by the end of the night you and I are goin’ to be best friends and I’m goin’ to know all your dirty little secrets.” He mused the words out with a small giggle, moving his foot off the chair so he would fall backwards with a surprised gasp. “Got anythin I can use as a gag, don’t have a TV to turn up and muffle his screams with.” Dirk was moving with Todd now, leaving the room as Farah closed her eyes and turned to face him motioning him over to her as she stepped farther away from their captive.

“You can’t hurt him-”

“So, what’s the plan? What exactly do you think is goin to happen? He’s just goin to tell us everythin’ and then we let him go? This ain’t a fairy tale, sweetheart, we’re going to get answers my way.” He leaned in so she would only here the last part. “And then we’re goin’ to kill him.” He pulled back and looked at her.  

“No, we’re not-”

“Oh, you have a better plan? Make Dirk talk his ear off and maybe he’ll beg for mercy by givin us what we want? Cause really, Darlin, it don’t work like that, not with these types.” He held his hand out to her. “You grab his wallet?” She hesitated before pulling it out of her jacket pocket.

“You are not to physically harm him.” He rolled his eyes as he snatched it out of her hand and began to flip through it. Learning his name and address from the ID, and stopping at the photo of a child. He looked it over and slowly pulled it out before handing the wallet back to Farah.

“You’re goin to learn some things about me then if I’m stickin to psychological.” He mused out to her, listening to her give a small sigh. He just grinned while walking back over to the captive and moving his foot to step on the man’s chest, leaning forwards and resting his elbow on his knee as he looked the man over. “We’re having our two friends go out to your place,” he held the photo between his two fingers and waved it at him, “noticed you’re not wearing a wedding ring, but I’m sure we can find out where your little girl is. They’re always better when it comes to getting children, so trusting looking, one of them practically is just a big kid himself, children love him.” He lied easily, seeing the man looking from him to Farah then towards the door that Todd and Dirk left through.

“No-”

“I can call them off, if you tell me where you’ve moved the crystal.” He informed so easily rocking the man by the foot on his chest. “Won’t even have to kill her.” He could see the way it was upsetting the man, he grinned at the way he could see tears in the man’s eyes.

“She’s just a kid dude-”

“Yeah?” He tilted his head to the side with an amused smile. “And? Not the first time, doubt it will be the last.” He stated in a bored tone, looking the man over before glancing to the picture and turning it to face him. “You know it’s actually kind of pathetic, how much people break from the death of a kid, especially when it happens in front of them.” He grinned while stepping off him and looking to the photo, continuing to circle him. “Youngest I’ve ever had to kill was just an infant… think the parents only had it for a month? But you know it was just so annoying, kept crying and screaming as it’s parents bled out on the floor.”

“Stop.” He could hear the man state, but Priest continued anyway, shrugging his shoulders as the memory played so easily in his mind.

“I let the mother watch as I shut it up.” He hummed the words, he could feel the way Farah was looking at him with hatred and disgust. “So easy to, it’s really amusing how defenseless kids are, you know?” He tilted his head as he stopped by the man’s head.

“You’re sick-”

“Ohhh, never heard that before.” He states sarcastically. “Gonna call me a monster too?” He laughed at the thought, giggling to himself as he took in a deep breath, thinking things over. “I’m used a lot when ethics and morals are  _not_ a priority. Can do the shit no one else has the heart to do. Like killing your little girl when she gets here.” He smiled while crouching down by his head.

“Please, please don’t-”

“Can prevent all of that from happening if you tell us where you moved that crystal.” He could see the conflict in the man’s eyes, as he slowly glanced over to Farah. “Any word on how it’s going getting the kid.” He could see her swallow before playing along and pulling her phone out.

“They said they’re making good time getting over to the house.” Priest grinned, while looking back to the man. Could clearly see the panic meaning she was clearly home, probably with a babysitter or family member. He clicked his tongue while giggling to himself, this was perfect, but also way too easy. Entertaining and boring all in one go given the fact he couldn’t cut and carve him up and paint him with his own blood.

“Look at that, getting closer to seeing her one last time…” He stated fondly, staring off in the distance as he crossed his arms over his chest. “I wonder… Are you going to be the type to lie and tell her everything will be okay as I gut her? Or will you try to have one last goodbye as she asks you what’s going on-”

“Fuck! Okay, okay! I don’t know where the Crystal is, I swear, we were all heading to meet up with another team!” He smiled from that information, kneeling down by his head again as he waited patiently for the man to continue to fill them in on information he wanted. “We-we had three maps one for each team… That-that map only works if you put all of them like together… That would… that would send us to our next drop off. We had the distraction team in the basement, my team to get the security’s attention when like… When like shit hit the fan, and then the third team who had the Crystal… Like our boss is paranoid, so paranoid it’s really annoying and like kind of frustrating sometimes because nothing is ever easy with him.”

“Where were you meeting the third team?” Seeing as they only had two of the maps. The man was shifting in his spot, taking in a deep breath and closing his eyes. Like he was debating if he actually wanted to tell him or not. Priest was just waiting patiently for the response as he looked to Farah about to make a comment if they updated her or not before the man panicked and started to talk again.

“We… we were going to meet at Tracey’s it’s a small little family owned restaurant, the owner is really close with our boss so we get to go there a lot to like meet up and stuff. It’s like, kind of hard to miss, it’s closer to the warehouse district so it stands out, bright colors, big ol’ sign, you can’t miss it.” Priest grinned while standing up and nudging him with the toe of his boot.

“See, that wasn’t so hard, thank you for the information, Jason.” He mused out, moving to begin circling him again. “Now.” He stood up straight, taking his military stance again while looking to Farah, “Who’s your boss?” He asked with an amused tone in his voice.

“I can’t tell you that, he’ll kill me-”

“Okay, guess we still are having a tea party with your daughter than.” Priest mused the words out while looking back down to the man who looked horrified at the idea.

“He-he goes by, he goes by Mr. Host, I don’t know his real name I swear. He… he is a ghost most of the time I’ve only ever actually met him once, and that was at that bakery where we ran into you guys… well them, I guess, you weren’t there.” Priest turned to look back towards Farah walking over to her and handing her the photo to put back in the wallet. Thinking the information over and if they needed anything else, he was guessing the man had no idea what ‘Mr. Host’ wanted the crystal for. Then again most of the times lackeys never knew what their bosses were doing. It was easier that way incase things like this happened, so he continued to keep his attention on Farah who looked like she was contemplating the information and looking up to see if the restaurant he brought up was real or not. He watched as she turned her phone towards him to show him that it was a real place and the man wasn’t lying.

“Alright, that’s done, where am I killing and dumping him.” She looked at him in disbelief from the question. Honestly, he found that reaction rather irritating, he didn’t know what else to do with the man. He was useless and taking up space, it would be dumb to keep him and it would also be dumb to just let him go.

“You’re not going to-”

“He will tell his team and his boss about us if we don’t execute and dump him.” Priest stated firmly, seeing the way Farah was looking at him with annoyance. He grit his teeth from that while crossing his arms over his chest, irritation building in his chest as he shifted in his spot.  

“He has a kid, Priest, we’re not just killing him.” She said under her breath making him groan in irritation.

“You  _really_ want to pretend that you have the moral high ground over getting this case solved?” He shrugged his shoulders, listening to Farah as she sighed. Like she was about to defend herself about the reason for not killing him. Really it was just a hindrance that would make a lot of things difficult for them in the long run.

“What do you mean pretend?” She asked in obvious annoyance while looking him over. Priest clicked his tongue against his teeth while laughing. Shrugging his shoulders like it was obvious before dropping his hands to his sides.

“How many people have you killed workin’ for Dirk? How many of them had families?” He mused the words out seeing her looking at him in a mix of shock and annoyance.

“I-”

“You don’t know do you? Because you were busy working and keeping the boys and yourself safe? Right? You tryin’ to tell me if you knew their family histories you wouldn’t have ended them? No matter who you kill for what reason they all have lives, they all have jobs, they’re all doing everything they can to put food on the table and a roof over their heads. You can act all you want like you have some high moral standing but at the end of the day you’re just a killer like me.” He mused the words out, watching as she grit her teeth up at him.

“That’s not true.”

“Isn’t it though? You need to think about this rationally, I thought you were the rational one. But maybe I was wrong, maybe you’re just as delusional as Dirk and Todd are. Because this one guy will be a problem for us if we let him live. He will tell someone about us, he will get more guys on us and he will get us killed. But because now you have a name and a family to link to him suddenly killing is not okay?” He rolled his eyes when the woman crossed her arms and took a more defensive stance.

“There’s a difference between killing to survive and killing someone in cold-”

“I’m going to stop you right there, Miss Black.” He mused the words while rubbing his jaw and glancing back at their captive who was trying to escape still before looking back to her. “There’s really not. You can try and rationalize it all you want, killing is killing no matter the circumstance. Now. Where am I getting rid of him, I’m assumin’ none of you want to come while I do it. Might get a little messy dependin’ on how I dump the body.” Which was a lie, he wasn’t really in the mood for the whole chopping up and throwing in different dumpsters type of thing, will probably just shoot him in a dumpster and bury the body in the trash to let the garbage company deal with.

“You are not killing him, and we’re not letting him go yet.” Yet, so she wanted to, eventually there would come a time when she would release him and then he would be a problem for them to deal with all because she wanted to play ‘holier-than-thou’. “We will keep him here, tied up and gagged, and then when we finish with Tracey’s we will let him go-”

“So he can tell Mr. Host about us and give away what Motel and room we’re staying at?  _Brilliant_ plan, Miss Black.” He mused sarcastically with a grin, he was going to get his way, one way or another. Either with permission or without, he was already slowly moving back to the man.

“Priest.” She gave him a warning tone as he grabbed the chair and forced it up right as he started to drag it towards the bathroom.  

“You know, in all honesty I just realized you won’t let me leave anyway, right? Too worried about me takin off and goin’ an turning on you. So I’ll just do it here.” Farah was standing in front of him now, hand on his chest to make him stop.

“No.” Priest grabbed her wrist, pulling it off his chest as he leaned into her face.

“I’m doin’ my job, and I’m keepin’ you idiots alive.” He snapped, letting go of her and shoving his shoulder into her to get her out of his way. He could hear her pulling out her gun and aiming it at him, could feel the tension in the room growing from the action alone.

“Priest! Let him go, or I  _will_ shoot you!” He turned his head to look at her, hearing the door open and knowing Dirk and Todd were coming in from the commotion probably to try and help.

“Go ahead, Darlin’, I’m curious what will happen.” He mused while continuing towards the bathroom.

“What’s happening?” Dirk asked while looking between them, seeing their captive fighting harder in his chair.

“Wait, wait! I don’t want to die man, I don’t want to die. I gave you what you wanted!” Priest just grinned feeling the chair move as the two legs it was balancing on continued to scrape across the motel floor. He was going to enjoy this, he was going to have so much fun killing him.

“Priest!” The tensions felt high as he shoved open the bathroom door, hand moving to his belt for his knife when he could hear the gun that was aimed at him click and jam, he pulled the chair all the way into the bathroom, stopping in the doorway as he looked to her. Seeing the way she looked at her gun in shock as he just giggled and she looked up to him with wide eyes.

“Look at that… Looks like I’m doing what Hugo wants.” He mused the words while kicking the door shut, locking it behind him as he heard someone slam into the door trying to open it.  

“Priest! Open this door!” He ignored them as it happened more frantically, moving to get the man over the tub, shoving the chair forwards so he was forced to bend over it. “ _Priest_!” He grabbed his knife, whistling a tune and moving so he could slit the man’s throat only to be interrupted by the door slamming open. He grunted when Farah more or less jumped on him and grabbed for the knife. Todd assisting in trying to help keep him down, he forced himself to his feet, standing with both of him on them as he slammed his back into the wall. Could hear Farah cry out in pain and he was immediately regretting his decision as that pain sparked through his arm, he dropped to his knees instantly.  

He could hear the knife clattering to his side as he cried out in pain. Grabbing his hand as he stayed on his knees, the pain so bad this time his vision began to waiver, could feel the sweat dotting his brow. It was a lot more intense this time from actually hurting one of them then it was just from almost breaking Todd’s fingers. He felt sick, the room wouldn’t stop spinning, he had to shut his eyes so he wouldn’t throw up again. Could feel tears begin slipping from them, as he gave another cry in pain, he could barely think or register the commotion around the room from how intense everything was. He couldn’t stop his little giggle to try and focus on something else, he winced when Farah forced his arm behind his back, Todd following her example and grabbing his other one. He could hear the cuffs as he was roughly dragged out of the bathroom.

“He’s still alive!” He could hear Dirk call from the bathroom as Farah ended up tying his legs together. It was hard to keep focus, everything was spinning he couldn’t even tell if the pain had subsided or not. Everything was turning black as he ended up passing out in pain on the floor.

He blinked when he found himself standing in the black space, staring up at the galaxy above him. Just lying there feeling weightless and floaty from the pain that had disappeared completely. He raised his arm and looked at his hand, fingers moving to trail over the bright white hand print that took up most of it as he groaned from Hugo looking down at him. Hand dropping to what he assumed was the ground, as he looked up at the man. He really didn’t know if there was a floor under him or if they really were just floating in space, but he supposed he could contemplate the plane of this existence later seeing he had more important things to do… like kill Hugo. He finally sat up and forced himself to his feet, immediately moving and tackling the man. Glad Hugo wasn’t burning him with this time as he easily knocked the man onto the floor. Sitting on top of him as he moved to wrap his hands around Hugo’s throat. He was going to kill the little asshole if it was the last thing he ever did. He grunted when before he could follow through with the action Hugo caught his wrists and just held him there. He fought against his hold though, as hard as he could but his grip was unbreakable. It was rather annoying and did nothing to satisfy his needs, especially with the way the man just boredly stared up at him.

“Mr. Priest, you like… can’t kill me. I don’t like, understand why you keep like… trying. It’s not going to work.” Priest practically growled as he kept trying to fight his hold so he could wrap his hands around his throat.

“If I can’t kill you then let me fucking strangle you!” He snapped the words down to him, listening to Hugo just sigh. “It will make me feel better at least.” He snapped the words down to him, leaning over him more to put more weight against his arms hoping that would be enough to get closer to Hugo’s throat. “Besides, I think you’d look even prettier getting strangled by me.” Almost purring the words getting a small surprised noise form Hugo.

“Wait, are you  _flirting_ with me while you try to like…  _kill_ me Mr. Priest?” He tilted his head from the question grinning down at him.

“Yeah.” He mused out getting a small sigh and then cough from Hugo who worked on changing the subject.

“I figured I could like use you being passed out to like check in how the uh mission was going?” Priest finally gave up from the question, just sitting on top of the man with his arms loosely in his grasp. He couldn’t stop giggling which turned into full blown laughter causing Hugo to slowly let go of him. He moved his hand grabbing him by the front of his shirt and dragging him up as he leaned in.

“How’s it going? I’m stuck working with annoying assholes!? What do you  _mean_ how is it going!?” He snapped the words down while shaking him by his shirt. Hugo just smiled up at him almost patiently.

“I mean… Dirk’s like really nice Mr. Priest, you should uh, really give it a chance.” Priest moved both hands to the front of his suit while dragging the boy up so he was sitting. He growled while leaning in and narrowing his eyes on him.

“I don’t work well with  _nice_. I work well with people letting me  _kill_ other people. You know, they actually want to keep this person alive who can get all of them killed.” He was laughing again as he dropped him, hands moving to run through his hair as Hugo shifted under him. The man’s hands moving to rest on his thighs again as he shifted.

“Well, you can like totally kill that person Mr. Priest, that’s what I like sent you to them for? Cause you can do the things they can’t?” Priest grabbed Hugo by the shirt again, leaning in so their noses were almost touching as he sneered at him.

“I was in the middle of trying to do that. And then I accidentally hurt Farah and your little brand went off and knocked me out.” Hugo blinked at him before looking at the brand and gave a small.

“Oh.” He looked like he was thinking something over, Priest swore he could see the gears turning in the man’s head as he motioned for him to get off him. Priest grunted and stood before dragging Hugo up off the floor with him. Watching as the man dusted himself off and worked on tucking his shirt back in before starting to walk away from him, Priest groaned while following after the man. “You’re like… not supposed to hurt them, and I like, know you would if you were allowed to. So, you’ll have to work around that.”

“I tried to rationalize with Farah but she wasn’t having it.” He muttered, stopping when Hugo did, seeing the man turn to face him with a large smile.

“Try harder than, Mr. Priest, or like… do it while they’re sleeping?” He shrugged his shoulders, Priest motioned around them.

“I can’t do that from here, Hugo.” He stated seeing the man nod while glancing up to the universe above them.

“Well, they’re like, not asleep yet so it would be silly to like send you back now.” Priest followed his gaze, narrowing his eyes on the universe above him. Which made him think about the crystal, he turned about to asked but Hugo was already looking over to him. “The crystal is like important, I went to collect it from Cheryl personally but then it was like already gone so I told her to contact Dirk because he’s like super good at finding stuff. But then it turned out to be this big hassle which is why I’m glad you almost died so I could claim and use you.” He sighed from that, hands moving to rub his face as he shifted in his spot, trying to think of what to say to that. How Hugo seemed so happy about the whole ‘claiming’ him thing, and sadly it was an annoying way and not a fun way. He looked to his brand before looking back over to the man, now finding himself curious about it.

“So, the other projects… Or at least Valkyries and Icarus know it’s there. Valkyries can feel it or sense it, but Svlad-”

“Dirk”

“ _Whatever_ , can actually see it. Why is that?” Hugo just shrugged while looking to the brand then back at him.

“Probably from their connection to like the universe and stuff, I don’t know I never really like thought about it. But that isn’t important.” He waved his hand dismissively and Priest just crossed his arms over his chest watching as Hugo shifted in his stance. “It’s just like… a  _thing_ ,” he closed his eyes form that, the boy was so dumb, even as the universe he was a fucking idiot. Yet it was so ridiculously charming he just wanted to punch him in his stupid beautiful face. “But it should make it more believable you’re there for a purpose of some sort at least.” It kind of did he supposed, though didn’t give him nearly enough freedom as he wanted, though maybe… He wondered if Hugo was still easy to manipulate… he moved his hands to the boy’s shirt, straightening it out from how he pulled on it.

“Hey, Hugo,” giving him a charming smile and watching the way the man looked at him with slight surprise, Priest moved closer putting his arm around his shoulder as he pulled him in. “I was thinking, since they’re going to act so high and mighty on who I can and can’t kill. That maybe you can help me explain to them how this guy really is a threat to their lives.” He smiled when Hugo blinked while looking at him. Having that adorable puppy dog look of his he usually had when he was getting excited about something.

“Can you tell me about this guy and why he’s a threat?” Even tilting his head in an endearing manner that had Priest smiling. He pulled the boy closer while leaning in, smiling at him as he invaded his space, boy’s breath still smelled like bubblegum like it did when he was alive…

“See this guy knows where we’re currently staying, the motel, the room, knows who we are now and that we’re after the crystal. He also gave us information on where we can go to find a piece of a map and potentially the crystal location. Meaning he knows way too much about us, but Farah still wants to let him go, and I can’t have that.” He could see Hugo blinking and thinking it over. “He will go back to his people and tell them where we are. He could mess up the new opportunity to get to map and the crystal when we release him. It’s a foolish decision to keep him alive.” Hugo was nodding, easily agreeing with the words he was saying, he pulled him closer as he turned to face him, hand sliding down the boy’s chest as he smiled. “He needs to die, you see?”

“Yeah, I like totally agree with you Mr. Priest. I suppose I could come and try to like help them see reason.” He was nodding, Priest smiled while running his hand up his chest and resting it on his shoulder other arm moving from around him to rest on his other one.

“This is why I like you Hugo.” The man blinked a few times.

“Really? Cause you never like… listened to me when I was your supervisor, and like… that’s why I had to brand you so you had no choice but to listen.” Priest squeezed his shoulders, taking in a deep breath before punching him in the chest, listening to the little noise he made before rubbing the spot he hit.

“If you paid attention, you would know the Universe helps with the whole insubordination thing.” He muttered under his breath receiving a soft sigh from Hugo who leaned his head back.

“Okay, I guess that like makes sense.” He said in slight defeat before moving his hand, Priest looked to the portal and watched as Hugo headed towards it and he followed after. Which going through was a weird feeling, from being free standing to suddenly jolting awake in his body like he was having a falling dream. He shifted rolling on his side, pulling at the cuffs around his wrists before looking down to the ropes around his ankles. He grumbled before looking up to see Hugo standing next to him smiling at that as his eyes fell on the trio who were arguing… okay… Farah and Todd who were arguing as Dirk tried to calm them both down. “Hello.” They all went silent as they looked over to Hugo, Priest was giggling as the man waved a hand over him and the cuffs and rope ended up lying next to him. He stood up and rubbed his wrists before looking to the trio who were looking at them in surprise. Priest dusted himself off before taking a more military stance next to the man who walked closer to them. “So, like, sorry for uh,  _intruding_. But I need to see Jason.” Priest looked over to Hugo with a grin given he never gave the man his name.

“Hugo…” Priest watched as Dirk actually walked over and hugged the man who stood there before awkwardly patting his back. “I thought I got you killed.”

“Oh, no, dude you like totally got me where I needed to be.” Priest could see Hugo grinning as Dirk stepped back and smiled at him. “But like no really, where’s Jason?”

“He’s in the-” Farah caught Dirk’s hand before he pointed, Priest watched as she looked passed Hugo and right at him.  

“Why?” She finally asked in a pointed tone, Priest couldn’t stop his grin as Hugo rubbed the back of his neck before moving to go towards the bathroom. Like he knew exactly where the man was and his asking was just an attempt to be polite.

“We’re taking him, since you guys don’t want to like know what’s happening to him and stuff. And like that’s  _totally_ okay.” He reassured while looking back at them before looking back to the bathroom. “We… well I, can like totally take him somewhere else so you don’t have to see it.” He informed before motioning for him to follow. “Come on Mr. Priest.” Priest arched a brow at them before following after Hugo who was pushing open the door to see Jason still tied in the chair, and now gagged, the man had been trying so hard to get out of his bindings from the looks of him.

“Wait!” Dirk pressed passed both of them and stood between Hugo and Jason. Hands out like he was trying to block them from going anywhere near him. “You guys can’t kill him, he didn’t do anything wrong-”

“He’s a danger to your life and safety.” Priest stated in a bored manner, Dirk was just looking at them with begging eyes. Priest watched as Hugo pulled a gun with a silencer on it out of his jacket and handed it to him. Priest looked the gun over and checked the chamber. Seeing the way Dirk’s eyes widened.

“Please, please, Mr. Friedkin, he just wants to go home to his daughter, he promised he won’t say anything to anyone, that he’s going to turn a new leaf. The whole shebang, you can’t just kill him.” Dirk put his hands in front of him, begging as he stared up at Hugo. Even had some tears in his eyes from being visibly upset about what was going to happen if he let them take the man.

“Don’t worry, Dirk, we’re going to do this somewhere else.” Hugo waved his hand, freeing Jason from his bindings and gag.

“What the fuck!” The man sounded alarmed, but he quickly got up, shoving Dirk out of the way and making a dash for the door only for Priest to catch him and slam him into the doorway, holding him there by shoving his forearm into his throat. He raised the gun and shoved it in the man’s mouth, grin on his face as he got ready to pull the trigger. He could feel Hugo resting a hand on his shoulder, a rush of air around them before they ended up standing on the top of a bridge. He caught Jason when the man almost fell. Holding him up by his shirt as he glanced around them.

“Wow, look at that, such a nice view before you die.” He hummed the words while pulling the trigger and letting go. Watching his body as it began to plummet down towards the ocean below him, he couldn’t stop giggling before he turned to look to Hugo. “You know,” he moved his hand grabbing the man by the front of the shirt again before pulling him closer leaning in with a grin, “I think you and I could have a lot of fun together.” He mused the words out, hand sliding up from his shirt to cup his face as he leaned in. Head tilting to the side as his eyes dragged down the boy’s face to his mouth. “Why send me back with them? Could easily just help you kill time in that fancy hide out of yours and you could send me in when I need to kill people. Could be a lot more fun that way.” Eyes flickering back up to Hugo’s who seemed to be thinking on it.

“Mr. Priest… I think you can do more working with the projects, like your abilities are helpful to them at times and stuff. I think it’ll be better this way.” He said with a smile, Priest ran his thumb along his cheek bone, the boy was so fucking dense.

“Aw, come on, Hugo.” Musing the name as he leaned in close enough he could practically taste his breath. Watching the way Hugo’s eyes were getting heavy from action. “Bet you get so lonely there.” Leaning in to close the distance between them as his hand slid back and into his hair. Tugging on it to force his head back as he deepened the kiss, feeling worked up enough he would rather just kill time with Hugo then go be stuck with the ‘Scooby Gang’. His other hand moved to his lower back, pulling Hugo closer to him as he started rutting his hips against him. Enjoying the taste of his breath as the boy kissed him back, feeling heated and needy. He bit along his bottom lip with a grin as Hugo’s hands moved to his hips, gripping them and pulling them closer. Hugo was breaking the kiss though and leaning his head back, Priest hummed while kissing and nipping along his throat. Sucking along his skin as Hugo’s hands slid up to his chest, he could hear the man give a small laugh that was catching his attention as he glanced up at him

“What, since you can’t kill me decide to fuck me?” He sounded so amused and Priest grinned while biting his throat rougher, watching him close his eyes and lean his head back with a cute little moan.

“Whatever works.” Humming the words against his throat as pulled on his hair rougher.

“Maybe another time, Mr. Priest, I have like stuff I have to do.” He groaned at that while leaning back, blinking when he already teleported them back into the motel room. Priest gave an annoyed sigh, pulling his hand off the small of his back as he held the gun out and Hugo took it back and slowly let go of the man’s hair as he slipped it away again. “I’m going to check in randomly to see how things are going.” Hugo informed before disappearing from the room. Priest couldn’t stop his smile as he looked to the three of them, Dirk sitting on his knees in the doorway in defeat. Farah looking annoyed and irritated, Todd was by Dirk trying to comfort him. The man instantly turning to look at him with a glare as he moved over to him grabbing him by the shirt.

“You motherfucker! We had everything handled!” He shouted, Priest leaned down to his level, once more trying to save his shirt despite the fact it was ruined anyway from being covered in his own blood.

“Clearly you didn’t if the vessel of the universe himself had to come down here and say otherwise.” He moved his hands prying Todd’s off him as he shoved the man backwards. Watching him stumble before he caught himself as Priest glanced over towards the couch. “We going to Tracey’s now? Or can I finally get some sleep?”


	4. The Senile Old Woman, The Con Artist, and The Fool

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Priest just wants to go the fuck to sleep but the mystery trio make that very difficult with their constant moving from place to place. Things get a little zany.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Characters** : Osmund Priest. Dirk Gently. Todd Brotzman. Farah Black.   
> **Warnings** : Murder. Panic Attack. POV changes = Priest’s POV > Dirk’s POV > Priest’s POV   
> **Note** : This case will make sense in the end I promise.

Priest boredly shifted in the cuffs he was once more forced to put on, honestly felt so tired right now he was contemplating trying to sleep in the car. Should have just asked to be tossed in the hatch, could at least attempt a comfortable position as he tried to sleep. He pressed his forehead into the glass window, giving an annoyed groan from how bumpy the road was getting as they delved into the industrial district of the city. Places full of train tracks, pot holes, and semis pulled off to the side in front of sketchy buildings and down gravel roads. He moved to press his face into his arm instead hoping for a buffer from being jostled around as he closed his eyes. Knowing it was a pointless battle, he was too much of a light sleeper, even if he managed to doze off it wouldn’t last more than a few seconds. Could hear Todd and Dirk talking in the back of the car, not really paying attention to what they were saying it was more of white noise... a white noise he was trying to ignore. Things had been getting more tense between them as they all unnecessarily argued with him about what happened with Jason... mainly Todd. He felt he might have gotten Farah on his side finally, but Todd was a stubborn little-

“You don’t look too well Priest.” Farah eventually commented and Priest couldn’t stop himself from laughing at that. Leaning back in his seat and slouching down as much as his arms would allow him to as he stared up at his cuffed hands. Moving to grip the handle he was cuffed to as he closed his eyes again, he just really wanted to sleep, he would even take a nap. Felt so exhausted and unsatisfied, and just wanted the day to be over before they walked into any more unnecessary bullshit.

“Let’s see, I haven’t really slept in three days, I’ve drove through a decent chunk of the south states. Think the last thing I ate while on the run was three potato chips... Oh, yeah,” Sarcasit tone at the start of the  _best_ part about this entire situation. “I’m in massive amounts of pain from both the brand and what I’m assuming is a lovely concussion thanks to Todd.” He turned to give him a pointed look, seeing the man just roll his eyes from the comment.

“You were attacking my friend.” He stated harshly back. Priest gave a small ‘hmm’ before continuing.

“Right, just like how you definitely had proper excuse to punch me in the face.” Sarcasm heavy in his voice. “The severed nerves in my nose are still on fire, but, yeah. I’m doin’ great, fan-fucking-tastic, best job and partners I could ever hope for.” He was giggling though as he listened to Farah sigh, noticing her checking the map she was using to get to Tracey’s. No one really saying anything to his wonderful list of reasons he wanted to go the fuck to sleep and he slowly shifted more in his seat. “Why do ya work for them?” He finally asked, could hear movement in the backseat.

“Why don’t you mind your own business, Osmund.” Todd asked in obvious annoyance, Priest continued to ignore him as he waited to hear from Farah.

“I mean I’ve read your file.” He read it a few times in all honesty. The First time he thought he was just mixing things up with someone else given her company. The second time he was just impressed with her achievements and even had a small feeling of  _kinship_  to her history of trying to work in law enforcement only to be constantly turned down and being declared unstable before she went into private security. “I know what you can do.” He felt like it was something he could use, he felt like he could mold her into something way better than playing nanny to Dirk and Todd. Both of whom were reckless endangerments to themselves and everyone around them. “You’re the only competent one out of the both of them.” Stating it bluntly.

“Hey!” Todd and Dirk both stated in unison as Priest continued. 

“So, why you doin it when there’s so many other things you could be usin’ your smarts and your skills for.” He noticed her looking at him before looking back ahead while gripping the wheel, an obvious irritation growing like he was pushing buttons she didn’t want anyone to touch.

“They’re family to me, Priest, I don’t expect someone like you to understand.” Priest couldn’t stop himself from giggling as he tugged sharply on the cuffs. Family was fragile and easy to hate, he never understood why people were so gung-ho about calling other people family. Just annoying ties you had obligations to rather than people you actually wanted to spend time with.

“ _Family._ Right.” Then again his family history was a bit bitter so what would he know? “They’re weighin you down.” He stated while looking to his cuffs.

“We are not weighing her down.” Todd said in an annoyed tone.

“Todd’s right, Mr. Priest, Farah is a very essential, appreciated, and loved member of the team. And no one weighs anyone  _down_  we all help one another.”

“Right.” He stated with an amused tone, thumb rubbing against the cuffs as he looked back to Farah. “Should just dump ‘em.” He continued in Farah’s direction getting an annoyed look from the woman as she continued to drive. “I’m serious about workin’ on getting you that job with my old friend. I think Ronda would adore you.” He mused the words noticing her looking at him with slight distaste before pulling to a stop.

“No offense, Priest, but I doubt I would  _ever_  want to work with someone you consider a friend.” He ran his tongue over his bottom lip, biting it as he began to giggle again.

“Suppose that’s fair.” Priest finally sat up and leaned over closer to her, watching as she pulled back slightly. “In other news I’ve been thinkin’ bout this whole case thing.” He announced while shifting in his seat. “They know who you are, the second the three of you walk in you’re goin’ to get flagged and we might not get anything.” Other than getting shot at which he was not in the mood to deal with right now. “But, they have no idea who I am.” Farah was taking in a deep breath while turning off the Suburban, leaning back in her seat before narrowing her eyes on him.

“If you think we will let you just walk in where there is a weapon like that waiting for us you’re not as smart as I thought you were.”  _Ouch_. He was giggling though as she opened her door while unbuckling her seatbelt and got out. He grunted when she slammed the door listening to the other two get out and shut their doors as well. He watched them talk to one another, looked like there was a bit of arguing going on between them as they clearly worked on a plan without him. He just kept a close eye on them while shifting against the handcuffs, could see them looking towards him before going back to talking to one another. But there was something about it, something about what they were discussing what appeared to be him that caused him to feel his hand throbbing.

Like a warning.

“What the fuck now, Hugo? I’m not even doing anything.” He muttered to the brand before looking back to them, seeing Farah slowly walking back over to the car and opening the door. “Wait,” He mused the word, grin crossing his face as he glanced back at his hand. “Don’t tell me,” he leaned more into the seat to look up at her as he tilted his head. “Y’all wanna leave me in the car and do this without me.” He couldn’t stop the little giggle that followed his words.

“We think it might be for the best. And hey, maybe you can sleep like you want to.” He moved his foot, slamming it into the door to stop her from shutting it as he forced it open all the way. Moving and getting out while tugging at the cuffs, smile and all humor gone from his face as he felt the metal of the cuffs biting into his skin. He leaned in getting in Farah’s face as the woman just stood her ground with a determined and defiant look in her eyes. One he would normally like to wipe off people’s faces, he grit his teeth as his eyes scanned her.

“Uncuff me, I’ll linger behind and come in if I’m actually needed, but there is no way in hell I’m going to just sit here completely vulnerable while you guys fuck around.” Farah just watched him while taking a step back, Priest tugged harder at the cuffs while looking to Dirk and Todd. “You’re makin a mistake, Miss Black, even you have to see that.” He mused the words out, watching them continue to head down towards the cute little homey looking restaurant not that far from them with a few cars sitting out front. He grunted while turning to look at what he was doing. Really hating now that he told them he couldn’t break out of the heavy-duty cuffs. He could feel his hand throbbing more and more the farther away they got from him. If their stupid decision set off his brand he swore he would find some loophole in this stupid contract with Hugo to hurt all of them. He grunted when the pain started to spread, moving to sit back down in the car as he pulled harder on the cuffs, just wanting them to break. “Goddamn it.” He kicked the door with annoyance, leaning forwards to press his forehead against his arms as he started giggling. This was going to hurt, he winced and grit his teeth, choking down the cry of pain as it started spreading, and it was going so slow this time. 

He could feel it working from the palm of his hand and spreading down his arm. So torturously slow, like it was trying to give him time to catch up before it got to intolerable levels. He was panting from the feeling, head leaning back against the seat as he started to tug at the cuffs harder. He needed something, to get his hands on something to use and get out of this. He forced himself to stand getting up and stepping in the doorway. Feeling blindly for his gun before sitting back down. Working on trying to angle it but it was just too large and awkward. Hand simmering with pain he accidentally dropped it, he cursed under his breath. Working on trying to calm his breathing as his hands trembled from the sheer pain of everything.

“Hugo, get me out of these.” He snapped yanking against the cuffs. “Or stop burning me, I... I-fuck! I can’t control them... leaving me handcuffed... to a car... it shouldn’t be my fault if they... If they-ah... get... get themselves killed.” Felt like he was going crazy talking to himself like this just trying to talk through the pain that was going off in his nerves as it reached up to the back of his neck. He closed his eyes tight, gritting his teeth and grinding them together to try and distract himself from the burning pain of everything.

\--

Dirk stopped walking, Todd and Farah both looking at him, he could feel them staring at him but he couldn’t raise his eyes to meet them. He hated this, he hated everything about this. Once more feeling like he was dragging them straight into danger as he rubbed his hand and then up his arm from the sympathy pain he was getting. He was too scared to look back at Priest, he didn’t particularly understand how the brand worked, but he could see how it did. How the light and faint scaring on his hand grew and spread and burned and scarred the inside of his skin as a bright light broke through. How he could sense the man’s pain to the point he could smell and kind of feel it. He hated seeing it even if he didn’t particularly  _like_  Priest... but Dirk wasn’t monstrous enough to let him suffer like that. He knew Todd said he shouldn’t care, Mr. Priest was an abuser, Mr. Priest was  _his_  abuser. He shouldn’t care what happened to him... 

But he did.

And that was a flaw he knew he had, he was too caring, he liked to help people, even if those people weren’t particularly good people. He felt stupid and childish for wanting to save the man some pain by talking them into letting the man come with them. But he also knew Priest would just end up killing people that didn’t necessarily have to die and he wasn’t sure how much more of that he could take right now... He took in a deep breath, rubbing his right hand where he could feel that annoying sympathy pain before sparing a moment to glance back at the car. Could see Priest pulling at the cuffs, trying so hard to break them and get free. And he could see the bright white light of the brand spreading and spider webbing underneath his skin and clothes spreading all the way up to the back of his head and slowly trailing down the man’s spine.

“Dirk, what’s wrong?” He looked to Todd, the man looking concerned, yet patient, as he held his hand. Other one cupping his face and getting him to look at him. He also wasn’t sure how much more stress Todd could go through, he already had medication a few times throughout the day and he really didn’t want Todd to have an attack in front of Mr. Priest. He looked the man in the eyes before glancing back towards Priest. He didn’t know how to word what was wrong but he could see Farah glancing at the man now, could see her calculating look on her face which was fading into what he felt was understanding. Like she was catching on to what was wrong.

“I know... I know he’s a terrible human being. Like completely awful, barbaric, and downright monstrous. I know theoretically that this is probably what he deserves.” Motioning towards the car where he was sure the man was showing his signs of pain while fighting the cuffs. “But I can’t leave him like that with a clean conscience.”

“If he really has to come then I’m sure the Universe will do its thing and let him go, right?” Todd asked, knowing he wasn’t in the mood to deal with Priest anymore. And honestly, Dirk really wasn’t either, having him around was emotionally and physically draining and hearing his voice and his laugh while watching him kill people was triggering and he found it hard not to cry or go lay down every time the man moved to fast. But... this wasn’t right. 

This wasn’t okay. 

“We’re hurting him by leaving him like that.” He could see Todd give a small sigh still holding his hand though, squeezing it before glancing over to Priest himself.

“Are you sure you can do this with him there, Dirk?” Worried about him, he smiled from that, playfully nudging his arm while looking back towards Priest.

“Probably not, but hey, am I really  _ever_  able to go into anything without some crazy unforeseen circumstance happening which just so happens to throw any and all carefully crafted plans out the window?” Small sarcastic tone as he looked between the two of them before leaning in. “No. The answer is no.” In case they didn’t understand, but from the smile Todd gave him which was his usual ‘you’re an idiot and I love you’ smile he felt the need to continue. “But! We get through it anyway and everything  _usually_  turns out alright, minus the few hiccups and bumps that can be  _really_  unfortunate sometimes.” He grinned when Todd rolled his eyes, Dirk just smiled while moving to take Todd’s hand, leading him and Farah back towards Priest who was gripping the cuffs and resting his forehead against the doorway of the car.

“Decided to come back, huh?” He could hear him ask with that tinge of pain in his voice. His southern drawl sounding heavier from it as Dirk shifted in his spot, he watched Priest turn and look at them. Had heavy bags under his eyes, just looking completely exhausted. Honestly Dirk was impressed the man could still stand, but he cleared his throat while looking towards his hand, the light having faded back to its original spot.

“As much as it pains me to admit this, I feel like we might actually need you in there, Mr. Priest.” The man just started laughing, going back to leaning his forehead against the doorway. Still giggling and making Dirk rather nervous as he glanced over to Farah who was pulling out the handcuff key. She slowly walked over and touched Priest on the shoulder, he could feel his anxiety spike. Knowing the man couldn’t do anything to hurt her, but he still worried as the man moved so she could uncuff him. Watching how Priest knelt down to pick up his gun before stepping out of the doorway and slamming the car door.

“Do me a favor. Next time y’all decide to try and leave me behind... don’t.” Sounded annoyed as he rubbed his hand, glancing towards the restaurant rather than looking at him. And from the anger and annoyance on the man’s face he understood why, knew he would end up hurting himself thinking of horrible things to do to them. He felt sick to his stomach from that while moving to take Todd’s hand, trying to calm himself down. Telling himself it was okay, that Priest couldn’t hurt them without that brand covering his body in burns so bad he was surprised it wasn’t leaving visible scars. “You guys goin’ in with a plan or winging it?”

“I’m sure you can guess what’s going to happen.” Farah stated and Dirk could see Priest roll his eyes watching as the man finally looked to them.

“The fact any of you are still alive amazes the holy hell outta me. So, here’s how this is going to go, and don’t be runnin’ off because that almost got us killed last time.” Pointed tone and look at Todd, the man just glaring at Priest from the tone used on him. He honestly felt like he might die of a heart attack and stress alone with how much Todd and Priest were at one another’s throats. Although he very much appreciated Todd being protective of him. He still was terrified Priest might bother to fight through the pain to hurt Todd. “I’m going to go in first, because they won’t know who I am, if it’s clear I’ll signal you guys to come in.”

“And if it’s not?” Farah asked, Dirk could tell she wasn’t liking this plan. But he understood her doubts, that Priest might do something with this crystal if it’s there. He seemed to know how to do business with people like this from how he was at the door of The Worm Hole, and then again with Mr. Gourd in getting them released. It made him wonder what all type of things Blackwing had the man doing, compared to what he was just naturally good at.

“Then I’ll find who has the map, kill everyone, and then we can start our next step of getting the Crystal... if it ain’t already here.” He mused Dirk took in a deep breath while glancing towards the Restaurant.

“No offense, Mr. Priest. But we really don’t like the idea of you being anywhere near the crystal alone.” He looked back to the man, feeling his heart in his chest from the annoyed look on his face. He squeezed Todd’s hand while stepping back and kind of behind him, not liking the look on his face. He even glanced at the brand to make sure he wasn’t even contemplating anything evil to do to them, but the streak of white light across his palm looked normal. The scaring was faint and barely visible under the light, meaning he wasn’t thinking anything like that, he felt like he could relax from that while taking in a deep breath and looking back to his face.

“Let me get this straight, you guys think... that I’m going to waltz in there, and take the crystal?” He was actually laughing that time, like someone just told him a joke. “You guys can handle that bullshit on your own, as I have stated  _multiple_  times now, which you  _know_ how much I hate that.” Dirk grabbed his own forearm, could feel his panic building in his chest as he remembered it so clearly, the first time Priest had to tell him repetitively what to do before the last time of his fuck up lead to him getting his arm broken. He tried to calm down, tried to tell himself he was okay. That Priest couldn’t hurt him. “I’m here to keep you guys alive. Now I’m ‘bout outta patience at this point. I just want to kill some people, eat, and go the fuck to sleep. Everything else is your fucking problem.” He watched as the man just started to walk passed them. “I know what I’m doin here, everything else is up to you.” Dirk closed his eyes before they moved to head towards the restaurant.

“I don’t trust him.” He looked over to Farah and nodded his head, he didn’t either. But didn’t feel like they really had much of a choice right now. He watched as Priest walked into the restaurant and took in a deep breath while looking to Farah.

“I feel like we should just walk in.” He informed she was already nodding.

“We’ll sit away from Priest and see if we can see any of the bad guys.” She stated and Dirk nodded, not minding that plan at all. Dirk let Farah lead the way, watching her open the door as they followed after, happily greeted by a waitress who took menus and asked if they were together before leading them to a rather large and comfortable booth. They sat down and Dirk could see Priest at the counter, leaning on it and talking to someone, very visibly distracting whoever it was. He couldn’t help but be curious what they were talking about. “That’s one of the guys.” Farah stated while looking at the menu. Dirk looked from her back towards Priest and the other man, suddenly feeling both surprised and confused when he noticed the Priest was-

“Is he flirting with him?” Todd asked in a whisper, Dirk wasn’t even sure what to say to that as he looked away. Glancing at the menu himself as Todd did the same thing before leaning closer to him. “I thought you said he was a homophobe?” Asking it under his breath.

“Well from the way he treated me about certain things regarding sexuality... I  _thought_ _,_ and had every reason to assume he was.” Now getting angry, he didn’t get angry very often but right this moment he really would have loved nothing more than to get up and yell at Priest. He tried to ignore the obvious flirtatious behavior happening as Priest talked to the armed man. Catching glimpses of touches that could be considered flirty and then noticing them discussing the man’s guns. He looked away again and forced a smile when the server came up to them, popping a piece of bubblegum as she stood there.

“Good evening Folks, I’m Tracey and I’ll be your server this evening, what can I get started for you?” She smiled while getting ready to take their order. Dirk set the menu down while leaning on the table and looking up to her.

“Your strawberry milkshake sounds wonderful.” He stated and she smiled while writing that down.

“Would you like something to eat with that?” Dirk noticed Farah glancing at something before looking back to the woman who was talking to them.

“Just the shake is fine.” He stated looking to see Priest and that guard heading to the back area of the restaurant.

\---

It felt so easy as he glanced over to see the server distracted by the Mystery Trio, suggesting they go to the bathroom and following him as he led the way. Putting a little distance just in case the worker noticed before they reached their destination. They walked in and closed Priest closed the bathroom door behind him, locking it when he noticed it was a single toilet room as he turned to the man he learned was named Paul. Priest immediately pressed him into the wall by the mirror, looking like the cleanest spot as he pinned him against it and kissed him. Rough and deep and heated, barely letting the man catch his breath as he slid his hands along his body feeling for what he wanted. He pressed his thigh between the man’s legs rutting it up against his groin as he started to kiss and bite his neck. Easily disarming him as he felt along his body, leaving the man’s weapons on the floor in a nice pile and wonderfully out of Paul’s reach. One hand moving to cover his mouth when he made some rather pretty moans. 

Although he wouldn’t mind listening to them... he just didn’t want to be discovered by any outsiders to what they were doing in there. His other hand went back to feeling along his body, working and opening the Kevlar vest he wore. Rucking up his shirt and running his hands along his lean and toned stomach. Priest would be lying if he said he wasn’t enjoying the way Paul’s hands roamed along his chest before tugging at his shirt. Hand sliding between them lower down on his body to tug on his belt. Getting it undone along with his pants as he reached in and started to palm at him. He gave a moan against the man’s throat from the reminder of how worked up he actually was from how many people he had killed that day. But he was forcing himself to focus on the mission, that there was a task at hand and he needed to work, despite how tempting getting laid actually sounded at this moment. 

He shoved him more into the wall, hand moving down his stomach and to his thighs, rubbing his hands along them as Paul worked on marking along his throat. He smiled when he could feel a folded piece of paper in his pocket, biting his lip to stifle a moan as he pressed his body more against him. Something about the brand pressing against the man’s body was sending a rather intense electrical feeling down his arm. Eyes feeling heavy as Paul worked on tugging his pants down. Even moving to kiss down his chest and moving to get him to step back as he started to go down on his knees- Focus.

He grinned while moving his hand to cover his mouth and nose, forcing him back up and slamming him against the wall. It was a nice switch of the man being needy and pulling at his clothes, to the sudden panic as he tried to fight against him. He slammed the man’s head into the wall a second time to daze him while pulling his knife out of its sheathe. Pressing it under the Kevlar and stabbing it up into his kidney. Twisting it around as he leaned closer into him. Hand moving off his mouth temporarily to grab the arm that was reaching for his gun as he continued to pull the blade out and stab it back in. Repeating in micromotions so it would look like the same stab wound. Hand going back to covering his mouth as he choked on blood and tried to call out.

“Shhh, just a little while longer, baby.” Purring the words while running his tongue over his lips, could still taste the beer from his breath as he slowly lowered him to the floor. He pulled the knife out of him and wiped the blood off on the man’s shirt before grabbing the paper he needed. Unfolding it to see it was the map he smiled to himself while checking him for anything else. Could see a notification on his phone about someone titled ‘Host’ asking if the team showed up yet. He clicked his tongue wondering if he could get Ken to-

He closed his eyes. 

Having to take a second to remind himself Ken wasn’t on his side anymore, that the man betrayed him and now he was working for Project Icarus of all people. The high he was feeling of the nice make out session and from all the murder vanishing instantly making him feel bitter and annoyed. He hastily pocketed the phone and the map, washing his hands off before tugging his pants back up his hips and doing them back up before unlocking the door, locking it behind him and making sure it closed before he headed over to the Trio. Sitting down next to Farah and dropping the map on the table, and then slid the phone on it as well. Leaning back in the booth as he looked around the restaurant.

“So... what... what happened to your new friend?” He looked to Dirk who was grabbing the paper and unfolding it before sliding it in his pocket where Priest assumed the other maps were. Watching with curiosity as he took the phone, Priest just shrugged while glancing towards where he was talking to the man originally.

“Oh, he’s dead.” He could hear the three of them sigh in disapproval. Which was really going to get on his nerves before they finished this stupid case.

“Did you at least get laid so you won’t be so fucking uptight?” He looked to Todd, grin crossing his face as he leaned forwards.

“Darlin’, I definitely need longer than five minutes for that, I mean, congrats I guess if that’s all it takes for you. Startin to feel bad for Dirk though.” Farah was rubbing her face now, could see Dirk’s face turning a deep red from the comment as Todd actually looked surprised.

“That’s not-”

“So, anyway!” Farah interrupted them before the conversation could get any further. Sitting up more and turning to face all of them better in the booth. “What do we do now, did he have the crystal?” Farah asked in a hushed tone. Priest looked from Todd with a smug smile over to Farah with an amused hum.

“Not on him. Could be in one of the cars.” He glanced over when he saw Dirk typing something into the phone. “What are you up to?” He mused the question seeing Dirk blink and look up to him with a small; ‘hmm’.

“I’m texting- Thank you!” Interrupted as Tracey came by and set down the milkshakes and food that was ordered. Priest eyed it while glancing back at Tracey who smiled at him and pulled out her little pen and paper.

“Good evening, sir, what can I get for ya?” Oh god, he was so hungry, he looked at the food on the table before glancing back at her with a smile.

“Paul mentioned,” She was already writing it down with a small giggle.

“Ah, yeah, one of the classics, would you like anything to drink with that?”

“Coffee.” She nodded and started to walk away.

“Comin’ right up.” He watched her leave before looking back to Svlad who sat up straighter before taking a drink of his milkshake.

“Who are you texting?” Farah finally asked clearly wanting to know as much as he did.

“Oh, Mr. Host, I let him know that the others did in fact arrive, and he just said to meet him in the backroom... I suppose it would be obvious I’m not Mr. Priest’s now dead friend if I ask him how to get there?” Dirk asked while screwing his face up in obvious deep thought. Priest groaned a bit while rubbing his face, knowing he definitely should be there for that but he really wanted to eat first. 

“I do believe that would ring some warning bells, Dirk.” Farah stated while leaning back in her seat, Priest found himself at least a little grateful when Tracey showed up with a cup and a pot of coffee.

“Leave the pot.” Debating if he should tell them to just tell Tracey they were meeting with Mr. Host and see if she would direct them where to go. But he didn’t want it to interrupt him having the possibility to eat something other than candy and potato chips.

“You got it.” She smiled and walked away as he poured a decent amount of sugar and creamer in the coffee before stirring it and starting to drink it. Feeling a little better from the caffeine at least, just wanted some food now...

“Can we at least eat first? I’m starvin’.” He muttered while practically drinking the cup of coffee in one go before refilling his cup. Dirk was looking to the phone then up to him while showing him the message, which Priest felt was rather impatient given the tone it read as. He drummed his fingers while glancing around the area, wondering where exactly the back was, and what was going to happen when they walked back there. Clearly more people would probably be there, he could see a person coming from around the corner, seeing the same unmarked uniforms and machine gun around his neck as he appeared to be looking for someone. Which was probably Paul. “Todd, Dirk, heads down, Farah twelve o’clock.” He could see her checking her gun as Todd and Dirk leaned forwards more. He was watching the man out of the corner of his eye seeing him starting to look over at them and getting a warning throb. He quickly got up and headed his way, getting the feeling he wasn’t going to be as lucky with this guy as he was with Paul.

He could already see him spotting Dirk and Todd, hand moving for the gun as he opened his mouth about to warn the others. Priest pulled out his knife and threw it, watching it imbed in the man’s throat as he choked on his own blood, the gurgle cutting him off from saying anything. His hands moving to the knife as he looked surprised, Priest easily used the distraction to close the distance and covered his mouth. Dragging him off hopefully before Tracey would see and shoving him around a corner. Keeping his hand over his mouth as he pulled the knife out of his throat and stabbed him a couple more times till the lights left his eyes. Once more cleaning off the knife as he took in a deep breath and headed back to the table.

“I swear, this is why you guys should have just stayed outside.” He muttered in annoyance, picking up his coffee which he once more filled with sugar and creamer before going back to drinking it. “Could have had a meal in peace that way.” Musing the words out, would rather not have a shootout though so he was going to pick them off one by one for as long as need be.

“Mr. Priest.” He glanced up and arched his brow, seeing the boy staring at his coffee cup with slight horror.

“What now?”

“You are  _covered_ in blood.” He set the mug down and looked to the blood he was smearing on the table with an annoyed sigh. Wasn’t that just perfect? He glanced up when Tracey started to head over to them, seeing her pause and her eyes fill with horror Priest was already drawing his gun, aiming it towards her only for Dirk to actually  _jump_ across the table and onto his arm so he shot the ground instead. Tracey screaming from the event, Priest gave an annoyed grunt while getting up and moving to shove Dirk off of him but the boy practically clung onto his arm begging him not to kill her. He could feel his hand burning from the thought of hitting him as he tried to pry Dirk off of him. He could hear footsteps and turned to see more of those armed guards coming out from around the corner aiming guns at them.

“Freeze!” He looked over his shoulder at them, Dirk still clinging to his arm as he half raised his free arm, seeing Farah and Todd both standing with their hands raised as Tracey moved to get out of the way and hide in the back. “Drop your weapons.” He dropped the gun in his hand, looking down at Dirk and trying to shake him off but the boy appeared to be completely out of it, locked in his mind and clearly not with what was happening. He could see Farah dropping her own gun as the men came closer to them.

“Dirk.” He said the name waiting for the boy to respond but there was nothing. He took in a deep breath glancing over to Todd seeing the man moving to go over to them but stopping when one of the armed men shot at the ground by his feet. “Hey, Dirk,” Shaking the boy by shaking the arm he was attached to, “you need to snap out of it now.” He said in a whisper, waiting for the boy to do something stupid so he could have a long enough distraction to kill the guards. But the boy wasn’t responsive, just repeatedly asking him not to do it. Begging him not to kill her, because she was innocent and didn’t do anything.

“Would you look at this.” Priest forced himself to turn around, dragging the boy with him as he faced the man who was incredibly tall and did have a rather large mustache he found quite distracting. His one arm still half raised as he glanced over to Farah and Todd who were glaring at the man. “I thought it was odd that I couldn’t get into contact with anyone else, and now it seems I have my answer as to why.” The guard were moving closer as they mystery Mr. Host did as well. “Who are you guys working for?” He asked taking an intimidating stance, Priest gave an annoyed groan as he shook Dirk again.

“The owner of the Crystal, what’s it to you.” Todd snapped, Mr. Host just laughed at that while crossing his hands in front of him.

“That senile old woman is not the owner of the Crystal. And neither is that con-artist.” Who the hell was he talking about now? “I am the rightful owner of the crystal.” Priest couldn’t stop himself from laughing at that, small giggle that turned into full laughter which had them all looking at him.

“You? I know exactly who that crystal belongs to, and it ain’t no one in this place.” Seeing as Hugo lived on another plane of existence and all. He could see more guns being aimed at him and only one on Todd and Farah. “Dirk, get behind me.” He said it firmly, watching as the boy raised his head enough to look at him.

“I assure you I am the one who should have the Crystal, and I will get it. Tell me, which one do you really work for? The old woman or the girl?” He was getting tired of this already.

“What girl?” Todd ended up asking in obvious annoyance.

“Dirk. Get. Behind. Me.” Snapping it through gritted teeth this time causing the boy to let go and stumble to do as told. Glad this state at least made him more susceptible to orders. 

“You know exactly who I’m talking about!”

“No, we really don’t.” Farah finally stated in obvious annoyance and confusion.

“If we’re done playing these games, where’s the crystal?” Priest finally asked, watching Mr. Host motion to the guards, he stood his ground in front of Dirk, staring down the barrels of the machine guns aimed at him.

“It’s not here, and you’re never going to get it.” He was hoping this would be like with the agents in Blackwing and Farah as he moved to grab for his own machine gun Todd and Farah moving to get behind the booth as they fired before Priest got his machine gun in front of him. The ones shooting at him jammed causing him to give a sigh of relief, the ones that shot at Todd and Farah thankfully missing, hitting the metal of the table, bouncing off and hitting them taking those who got hit down as Mr. Host was grabbed and lead out of the restaurant. Priest quickly opened fire on the other guards, ignoring how Todd ran to Dirk, making sure he was okay as Priest ran after the other guards and Mr. Host. Stepping back around a corner when they proceeded to shoot at him. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to risk stepping out in front of the reign of bullets and just hope he got lucky as he waited for an opening to shoot at them. Leaving through the back door and seeing a car take off, he headed back in and took a deep breath.

“Alright, lets figure out that map and hopefully get there before they do.” He could see Dirk still was in an obvious out of it state, not even actually reaction to Todd.

“What did you do to him!” Todd snapped while walking over to him, grabbing him by the front of the shirt. Priest stood there looking boredly from Todd to the boy who seemed frozen in place. “He did this last time he heard your voice in Bergsberg! What did you do!?” Obvious worry and concern in his tone, Priest shoved Todd off of him and walked over to Dirk, ignoring Todd who grabbed him by the jacket. 

“I didn’t do anythin... You want him back? Then smack him.” He stated flatly. Looking to Todd who glared at him.

“I’m not going to hit him!” He rolled his eyes, could feel his hand burning as he raised it, knowing this was going to hurt like hell but he just needed the boy to snap out of it. He smacked him hard across the face, hitting him kind of felt like smacking red hot metal that caused him to drop on his knee with a pained cry. He held his arm close to his chest, panting as his brand burned him from the inside out, felt like he was going to be sick again. Could hear Todd yelling at him through the ringing in his ears as he looked up trying to catch his breath seeing Dirk sitting on the floor where he landed rubbing his cheek with a surprised look on his face.

“Ow? What the bloody hell was that all about?” The boy asked forcing himself up to his feet while rubbing his cheek. Priest just grunted in annoyance, picking up his handgun and slipping it away as he forced himself to stand up. Hand still throbbing and burning making the task rather annoying and difficult.

“I had to snap you out of... whatever mind-numbing state you put yourself in.” Sounding annoyed as he stumbled from the pain he was in. “Now look at your map, and tell us where the hell we’re going before Mr. Host beats us to it.” He looked sadly to the coffee that had spilled all over the floor before heading for the door, could hear the others behind him as he pulled his machine gun off and waited for Farah to unlock the Suburban so they could all get in.

“Crazy theory here.” Priest grunted as he settled in his seat, glad Farah didn’t bother to cuff him as they all got in the car. “What if Mr. Host also doesn’t know the location? I mean, why would he need to wait for the other two pieces of the map if he knew where to go?” Priest blinked finding that that actually made sense that he might not know. Then who made the maps? Was it the girl they were talking about? How did another person fit into this? Actually, how  _many_  people fit into this? Cheryl was obviously the one that had owned it previously if she-

“The baker... you said the baker gave Host the crystal, how were they handling it?”

“Oh well... we honestly just assumed it was the crystal they were handing a box to one another.” Priest sighed heavily while rubbing his eyes with his fingers and thumb. Starting to get an even worse headache now as this night went on.

“Alright, let’s get to this map location before Mr. Host warns whoever currently has the crystal-”

“Mr. Priest, can I borrow your right hand?” He narrowed his eyes on him from that, looking to the invisible brand before turning in his seat to put his hand in the back. He tilted his head when Dirk laid the papers over one another and hovered it over his hand.

“What are you doin’ exactly, Darlin?” Amused tone as he watched him shift the papers around and line them up while still hovering them above his hand.

“Well I need light to see what I’m doing, and this thing is like  _really_  bright.” Priest narrowed his eyes on him while looking back to what he was doing, seeing him line up the papers better and smiling as he pointed at it. “Okay, looks like the Crystal is located at a place called ‘Stone in the Sky’.” Priest watched him move the papers away and looked at his hand.

“Does it say where it is?” Farah asked with obvious interest in her tone.

“No... no it does not, looks like a small building between two very tall buildings though.” Farah sighed and Priest could see Todd pulling his phone out to look it up. Priest sat back in his seat before looking at his hand again, staring at it and squinting before looking back towards Dirk.

“What does it look like to you?” He could see Dirk looking from the papers over to him and blinking while motioning that he wanted to see his hand again. He gave it back to him in curiosity, watching as Dirk hovered his finger over his palm.

“It’s like a big crack in your hand that’s scarred with a bright white light right here.” He could feel Dirk’s finger touch it, couldn’t stop a sharp intake of air from the feeling of him sliding his fingertip from right between his index and middle finger low on his palm before dragging it across to the side of his hand. His free hand clenched, gripping at the center console as the fingers of his other hand twitched. The touch felt incredibly electric, a surge of heat throbbing through his body and not necessarily in a bad way. In fact, it was in such a way he had to bite his tongue to stop a moan that threatened to escape as he jerked his hand away from Dirk. He looked to Dirk with surprise, seeing the boy’s expression mirroring his own like the boy knew exactly what just happened. “So... no... uh... no touching the brand. Got it.”

“Does it hurt you when it’s touched or something?” Farah asked in genuine curiosity. Priest couldn’t stop his amused grin from the question.

“Whatever keeps you sane.” Priest mused out getting an odd look from the woman.

“Here’s how to get to Stone in the Sky.” Todd interrupted handing Farah his phone so she could navigate through the city. Priest leaned back in his seat and looked to his hand, blinking a few times wondering now if Hugo did that on purpose. He narrowed his eyes on it, curious now if it was when anyone touched it or just when a project touched it... Then again it actually hurt when Valkyries did that, but Ronda also tried to use her abilities on him. He took in a deep breath and slowly let it out while dropping his hand in his lap. Would have to ask Hugo what the fuck that was about as they pulled in front of the small shop that from looking at it looked like some sort of Pagan type store.

“It’s closed.”

“It’s three in the morning of course it’s closed.” Priest muttered while opening the door and getting out, heading over to the door as Dirk, Todd and Farah quickly followed him. He knocked on the glass door and waited impatiently for someone to answer, looking around then over to Dirk who was trying to peek in the dark window. They waited but no one was showing up, Priest moved to break the window with his machine gun when Dirk stood in front of him and stopped him from following through.

“Mr. Priest... we can’t just break windows-”

“And why not? That wasn’t part of the rules.” He teased, lowering the gun when the boy just glared at him. “Look, Svlad,”

“That’s not my name.” Priest licked his lips, smile slowly crossing his face as he leaned in closer to invade his space.

“ _Dirk_ , I just want to get this crystal so I don’t have to deal with you people anymore.” He looked passed the boy when he saw a light turn on in the front, lowering his gun all the way as Svlad turned around to look at the woman who walked over to the door and opened it.

“Can I help you?” She asked while taking a drink of what he was assuming was tea of some kind. Dirk just raised the map and watched as she blinked at them before shifting in her spot in the door way.

“You have my money?” So that’s what the auction was for? Dirk was already perking up, he watched him about to speak before moving his hand and covering his mouth.

“You have the crystal? No crystal, no money.” She narrowed her eyes on him before looking them over like she was checking for a bag.

“No money, no crystal.” She even shut and locked the door before walking away. He watched with amusement before looking back over to them.

“Can I break the window now?” Priest asked while looking back to them, Dirk was shoving his hand off his face and glaring at him before knocking on the door again. Waiting and seeing her poke her head from around the corner, Priest rolled his eyes and stepped away as the woman eventually came back and opened the door.

“You have my money?” Repeating with a smile.

“I want to apologize for my associate, he’s having a rough night.” Dirk stated while smiling at her.

“I can only imagine with a face like that.” He looked back at her with narrowed eyes, listening to Todd actually laugh from the comment. “But I still stand with you’re not getting anything from me without my money. Which I’m honestly confused why you people have my map seeing as I discreetly passed them out among that idiot’s people.” Dirk was moving and holding out a hand to her, Priest could feel a warning throb making him confused and uncertain as he looked at his hand before glancing back at her.

“How about a proper introduction? My names Dirk Gently, I’m a Holistic Detective,” he could feel a change in the air, a familiar change one he only felt once in his life time that for some odd reason made him feel like he needed to get them out of there, “and I’m on a case to find this crystal.” He was watching Dirk pull out the photo of the crystal and showing it to her when she never took his hand. She stared at it and looked up to him with a bored expression, like she wasn’t interested at all. “We now know that you must clearly have it in your possession-”

“And how much am I being paid for its return? Is it on billion dollars?” She arched a brow, Dirk looked a little stunned while lowering the paper.

“No... no... it’s just... that nice warm feeling of doing the right thing?” She was laughing now, almost doubling over while stepping back in her shop.

“You’re lucky you’re funny. Now go away.”

“Hey! Wait! It’s not even yours!” Todd was getting closer now. “Why don’t you tell Mr. Host where to meet you and trick him into giving you the money?” Todd asked while walking over, Priest looked from her to Todd watching as she smiled, leaning against the doorway with a telltale grin that had Todd taking a step back. “You... you already gave it to someone else didn’t you.” She waved her hand as she closed the door, locking it on them before heading back into the shop and disappearing as she shut the light off. “So she’s the con artist!” 

“What con-artist?” Dirk was looking over to them. Blinking a few times as Farah shifted closer to him.

“Mr. Host asked us if we were working for the senile old woman, who I believe he is talking about Cheryl. Or the ‘con-artist’ who appears to be our lovely friend here inside of Stone in the Sky.” She explained to him simply and calmly, noticing Dirk frowning while looking between her and Todd.

“Can I break the window now?” Priest asked while leaning against the front of the store, looking at Dirk who was just staring at him in shock.

“No, no Mr. Priest you cannot break the window now. Maybe we can try talking to her again. I’m sure we can find a way to get more information on-” Priest slammed the butt of the gun into the window, reaching through the now broken glass and unlocking the door. Opening it and heading in, gun raised at the woman who was standing behind a counter, not even looking concerned as she flipped through pages of a book. She seemed completely uninterested in their existence if he was being completely honest.

“Mr. Host isn’t coming seeing as we have his map to get here. Who did you give the crystal to?” He snapped, he could smell blood here, wondering who she killed in this shop to wait for Host. She slowly looked back up at him, moving and standing up straight as the trio came up behind him. Forced smile on her face as she moved to stir her tea before taking another sip of it.

“You guys are very persistent.” She stated in a bored tone, Priest just kept his gun on her wondering if she would crack eventually or if she really just didn’t think he would shoot her. 

“I really need to find that Crystal miss?” Dirk was motioning his hand in an attempt for her to give him her name, she was slowly closing her book and giving a small sigh. 

“A guy came in not that long ago and gave me five hundred million for it and left. Don’t know who he is or where he went.” She stated flatly and Priest slowly just lowered his gun given now he didn’t have any excuse to shoot her.

“And what uh... what did this gentleman look like?” She was leaning over the counter again, going back to flipping through the book.

“He wore a hood, I don’t know.” She shrugged boredly. “He dropped this as he left.” She slid a card over on the counter, Priest watched as Dirk ran over and grabbed it, looking it over and taking in a deep breath.

“The Golden Oak...” Priest was rubbing his eyes already getting tired of this damn goose chase. He just wanted to get the crystal, give it to Hugo who apparently needed it. And then go somewhere else that wasn’t as confusing and annoying as this charade was. “I guess we have our next clue. Thank you... and good luck with the money thing.” Dirk added as the four of them worked on heading out of the store. Priest glanced back at the woman who was just going back to her book and ignoring them. Probably going back to waiting for Mr. Host so she could get her money and leave. It just seemed weird to him that she wasn’t even armed while clearly in the middle of such a large con...

“What if she’s lying and she still has the crystal?” Priest asked while looking back to them, Dirk was blinking while looking back at him then towards the car.

“I don’t know Mr. Priest, I have a really good feeling about this Golden Oak place.” Great, fantastic, god he was so done with the day.

“And we’re at least stopping to sleep before we continue this?” He asked as they climbed into the vehicle.

“I think we should talk about all this back at the motel, a lot of stuff has happened tonight.” Priest set the machine gun on the floor so it was aimed up at the ceiling of the suburban as he buckled himself in. Leaning back in his seat and closing his eyes, just letting them talk which unfortunately kept distracting him from having the ability to doze off. Felt like every time he was close to sleeping someone was talking again, it was going to be annoying trying to sleep in the motel room with them.

He could already tell.

He was thankful though when they finally reached it, rubbing the tiredness out of his eyes as they walked into the motel room. Priest immediately taking off his leather jacket, setting his weapons down on the coffee table as he pulled off his bloodied shirt. Now wondering if they at least brought his bag of clothes in, quickly scanning the area he saw an untouched one by the table as he sat down on the couch to take off his boots.

“Priest.” He glanced up at Farah who was holding a pair of handcuffs, staring at them he leaned back into the couch with an annoyed expression on his face, toeing off his boots that were now untied as he worked on taking off his pants.

“I’m not sleeping in those.” He stated firmly while taking his jeans off and dropping them to the floor before laying down on the couch. “I won’t move from this spot till one of you wakes me up.” He stated while turning his back to them, ignoring the annoyed sigh as Priest pulled off his shoulder harness, blindly dropping it on the floor behind him after taking the gun out of it and stuffing it into the couch to have access to if for some reason they needed it. 

“We don’t feel like having you free roaming with a gun is a good idea.” He grunted while adjusting one of the couch cushions to use as a pillow.

“That’s not my problem now is it?” He asked in annoyance. “Besides, the cuffs aren’t going to do shit, you can cuff my hands behind my back I know how to maneuver to get them in front of me. And there ain’t nothin here to cuff me to. It’s not geometry.” He muttered lifting a hand to wave it boredly at her to make her go away. He gave an annoyed grunt when she slapped the cuff around his wrist.

“This isn’t debatable.” She announced firmly, he glanced up at the cuff around his wrist and sat up as he pulled it out of her hand. About to grab her and demand she take it off when in mid reach the brand on his hand went off, he grabbed it, doubling over with an annoyed groan when she used the distraction to cuff his hands together. “And I already had a plan as to how to anchor you to this area, Priest.” He looked up at her with an annoyed groan when he noticed movement out of the corner of his eye. Seeing Todd looking through his bag he worked on catching his breath as the man pulled out the chain that was there. He watched as Todd headed over to Farah, handing it to her as she held her hand out just expecting him to give up his freedom to her. He stood up, kicking the coffee table that was next to her listening to the legs scrape against the floor as it moved and rattled from almost being kicked over.

“I’m not going to play along with this, Miss Black, if you really want to restrain me all night then good luck.” She just stared at him, not moving from her spot and keeping her stance, not willing to back down. He was going to make her pay for this, he was going to destroy all of them. Make them wish they never had this stupid plan, ignoring the throbbing in his hand as Priest grabbed for her. Blinking when the pain sparked again, how she used it by grabbing the handcuffs as he fell to his knees. Cursing under his breath and unintentionally pressing his forehead against her thigh as she worked the chain and attached locks to it to keep it in place. Stepping away as he fell forwards from her no longer being there and heading into the bathroom next to the couch to attach the other side of the chain to something in the bathroom. He swore when this was over, when he was no longer supposed to protect them he was going to kill all of them.

The thoughts doing nothing to stop the burning pain in his body.


	5. How to Train your Killer Boyfriend

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Priest and Hugo have some nice bonding time over a lovely feature if Priest's brand. The gang then goes to The Gold Oak and run into unexpected trouble all in all introducing another member heavily involved with their case.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Characters** : Osmund Priest. Hugo Friedkin. Dirk Gently. Todd Brotzman. Farah Black.   
> **Warnings** : Sex. Choking. Violence. Murder. Priest's POV.   
> **Note** : I like how when I say things will be a slow burn they're like... 100% not. lmao

It took a while for the pain to stop, every time it was getting close to stopping his brain kept coming up with wonderful thoughts on what he was going to do to them when he no longer had to protect them. It was a rather irritating cycle that he eventually got his mind off of by thinking about the con-artist. Trying to place why he had that weird feeling and why he felt like he almost needed to get Dirk out of there despite nothing actually happening. He took in a deep breath when the pain stopped and slowly forced himself off the ground and onto the couch. Tugging at the cuffs and listening to the chain rattle as he gave an annoyed sigh, getting comfortable and ending up laying on his back with his hands above his head and hooked over the couch. It was the only real comfortable way to lay with the cuffs. He was also thankful going to sleep didn't take too long...

Or wanted to be thankful until a noise caused him to open his eyes and he found himself in that weird black and blue galaxy place. Laying down as if he was still on the couch in the same position, he grunted and moved his hands to rub his face and then his wrists which were free instead of restrained here. Which was at least one thing he was thankful for. He slowly rested his hands on his stomach, tapping his foot on the floor while continuing to stare at the galaxy above him, feeling oddly peaceful here... but...

"Hugo... before you keep me here... will I still feel like I've been awake for days?" He finally asked while forcing himself to sit up and looked over to see Hugo standing over him. Head tilted as he thought about his words.

"Oh... I don't know, I'm sure you'll feel well rested though, Mr. Priest, you are still asleep and all. I just wanted to check in because your mark was going off for a long time there." He motioned at the air like there was a timer or something, he slowly looked down to his hand and then back up at him as he forced himself up to his feet. Annoyed as he stared at the brand wondering why he and Dirk saw different things.

"How come Dirk sees something different than I do?" He tilted his head before looking up at Hugo seeing the man just smiling at him. He narrowed his eyes from that while crossing his arms over his chest. Not liking that smile, like the man was up to something. "What?"

"You like... used the right name on your first go." The man stated almost sounding Proud, he rolled his eyes from the statement before moving his hand to rub his face.

"Okay I want to talk to you about this." Holding the hand with the brand up while looking at the man who stood with his hands behind his back. Head tilting and eyes obviously focusing on the brand so he could pay proper attention. It was moments like this he felt they were all doomed if he was really the universe... "Is there a way to make it  _not_  hurt if say, my dumbass charges decide to leave me handcuffed to a car. Or I need to snap one of them out of a bad mental state by hitting them. Cause let me tell you Hugo... makes me not want to help them any more given the fact your little present here is hurting me for things I can't control." He watched the man blink a few times, sighing wondering if he was going to have to break this down better from the blank stare he was receiving. "I-"

"I'm not changing anything about the Brand Mr. Priest. If you like don't want them to like  _leave_  you behind or something maybe you should build a type of like... uhhh... friendship? With them?" He was giggling from the very idea of trying to become  _friends_  with them.

"You're not serious-"

"As for the hitting thing, even if you have good reason to do it I'm not going to like  _let_  you hurt them under any circumstances. Just because what you think is like  _right_  to like uhmmm... use... violence... doesn't mean it like is? Like Mr. Priest... you totally went from like subduing Vogel by breaking his fingers to like; hey I'm going to turn them into swiss cheese with my machine gun." He was getting the feeling he was never going to live that down.

"If I didn't shoot at them they never would have gone to where they needed to go." Stating it firmly and watching the way Hugo looked like he had a 'lightbulb' moment. Mouth opening as he gave a surprised 'oh' before shaking his head.

"Well, still, I'm not going to let you hurt them for any reason. I feel you'll like totally abuse that uhm power. Like find ways to like... know you're doing wrong. But like twist it in a way? You know... How you like totally do with everything." He grit his teeth from that, hating the man was already calling him out on the fact he would look for loopholes. He put his hands on his hips and blinked when he realized he was dressed how he was in real life too. Glancing down to see himself in just a pair of boxers, he bit his lip before looking back up to Hugo who was slowly looking back to the galaxy above them. "I know like, about the reasons they went off earlier during the uh investigation... I feel like that was an investigation..."

"An unreasonable mess is what it was."

"But why was it like going off so much before you went to bed?" He could see the man looking back over to him, made him wonder why he didn't know. If he was doing something instead of watching, felt like the man probably wasn't standing here the whole time...

"Oh, my head was full of such wonderful things I would like to do to the trio. Anyway, I have one more question." He watched the man turn to give him his full attention. "About the brand," already feeling like he had goosebumps starting from remembering the sensation of Dirk touching it, "why did you go and make it as sensitive as you did?" He asked in slight annoyance, watching Hugo blink slowly before looking to his hand.

"How do you mean?" He blinked when the man grabbed his wrist and pulled his hand closer. "Does it like hurt when It's not supposed to?" Even sounded so concerned, Priest rolled his eyes taking in a deep breath as he looked at the man's face. Unsure how to explain to him that it actually did the exact opposite of hurting him when it was touched.

"Doesn't hurt, no. It uh-" He couldn't stop the surprised gasp when Hugo touched it. Feeling the way his thumb rubbed along the brand in the exact same place Dirk had touched. He bit his lip and actually stumbled into the man, resting his forehead on his shoulder, as his other hand grabbed on to the man's sleeve over his bicep. Because unlike Dirk, Hugo just  _kept_ touching it, he grunted while sliding his free hand up, grabbing at his shoulder and digging his fingers into him. He felt lightheaded from that electric, pulsing, heat running up his arm then pulsing down his spine and making its way to his thighs and groin. "Fuck... Hugo-" He glanced up to see the man just smiling at him as he continued to play with the brand.

"Sorry... But like...  _wow_... I totally didn't intend for that to happen." Priest closed his eyes, it didn't help he was still worked up. That head steam he needed to blow off from the people he killed and then the make out session with Paul. He moved his free hand off Hugo's arm and grabbed him by the hair, yanking him roughly into a heated kiss, eagerly stealing the man's breath as he bit at his bottom lip. Tongue sliding over it and seeking entrance which Hugo parted his lips for him. He pulled him closer to him, body pressing against Hugo's as the little fucker kept touching his bran. He couldn't stop from moaning into his mouth, biting and sucking at his bottom lip. Finally pulling the hand away from him as he moved his hands to the boy's clothes. Working on tugging it off the man's suit jacket, forcing it open roughly and tugging it down and off of him. He had to break the kiss long enough to breathe, before going right back to it. Could feel Hugo's hands sliding along his chest as he moved his own for Hugo's belt and working on getting it open. He almost whined when the man caught his wrists and pulled his hands away. "Mr. Priest." Priest could feel that hazy fog almost clouding his mind from the sheer need he was feeling right now, he pulled against Hugo's annoying unbreakable grip.

"Why are you so annoyingly strong?" He muttered he blinked when Hugo moved both of his wrists to one hand, the other moving to the small of his back, the man pressing their groins together. Priest was eagerly rutting his hips against him, trying to get as much friction as possible as he leaned up to kiss him some more. More or less abandoning the idea of fighting his hands knowing it wasn't going to do anything. He could feel the man's hand slide lower, grabbing his ass causing him to moan from the spark of pleasure surging up his spine.

"I dunno, I guess just a perk with the new job?" The boy mused between kisses, Priest couldn't stop his amused smile from that as he started to kiss him again, hands once more fighting against his hold as he was lead backwards. And before he knew it he was being guided to lay on his back. The hand moving from the small of his back to switch his hands in each of his before pinning them by his head as Hugo laid on top of him and continued to kiss him. Priest shifted, to plant his feet into the surface of whatever they were laying on, lifting his hips and grinding himself against him. Feeling needy as he continued to kiss him biting at his bottom lip and sucking on it playfully as he continued to grind his hips against him. He leaned his head back with a moan from the way Hugo started to rock his hips against his ass, he clenched his hands into fists as he went back to fighting his hold.

"Let go." Barking the order at him and watching Hugo blink while staring at him before a little smile pulled across his face.

"No." Priest leaned his head back enough to glare at him.

"What do you mean, no?" Getting annoyed now as Hugo went back to grinding his hips against him, could feel the man's cock against his ass. Which really was a nice reminder he was only in his boxers, he bit his bottom lip head leaning back with a moan as Hugo continued to kiss him. Hands sliding up his wrists and letting his fingers rub along his brand on the one hand as the other he moved to interlace their fingers. Keeping him pinned and making him squirm from that electrical current of pleasure spreading through his body. "Ah- fuck. Hugo... just." He started to grind his hips down harder against him. "Just fuck me." He muttered the words, getting a small noise from Hugo who started to nip along his throat and down to his chest.

"Are you sure, Mr. Priest?" Honestly the question just made this sound ominous, making him give an annoyed sigh as he leaned his head back. Shifting to press himself more against him before wrapping his legs around his waist.

"Don't make me tell you again, boy." Growling the words, and watching the way Hugo's eyes became heavy from that before he finally let go of his hands. Priest immediately went back to stripping Hugo, tugging roughly at his tie and moving his hands to his shirt. Pulling it open to get it off as Hugo sat up to work on getting his belt undone. Priest sat up, adjusting his legs as he pulled the boy's shirt off and began to kiss and nip and bite along his chest. Sucking at his skin to mark him and give him hickies as he let a hand trail down the man's stomach. Sliding it into his pants when he got those open to wrap his hand around the boy's cock, slowly pumping his hand up and down his length as he began to kiss and bite around one of the boy's nipples. Feeling his hands in his hair as the man gave a pretty moan from above him. He felt his fingers trail down his face, cupping his jaw before pulling him up and back into a heated kiss.

_\--"Mr. Priest."_ He let his eyes shift up from the voice that echoed through the land around them. Eyes narrowing when he thought that it sounded like Dirk...

"What's that?" He sounded annoyed as Hugo shoved him back down by his shoulders, the man above him just giving an amused smile. He watched as Hugo started to sit up, like he was going to stop. Priest moved to grab him by the back of the neck and pulled him back down. Kissing at his jaw, and playfully nipping at the skin as he waited for Hugo to tell him what was going on.

"That is Dirk trying to wake you up." Priest leaned back, it was weird to feel what was almost like someone nudging his back.

_\--"Mr. Priest..._ _"_  Another pause and then another weird feeling against his back like someone was shaking him.  _"Hey! Mr. Priest!... Gosh..._ _He's like really asleep guys."_

"You have to go back to work." He didn't want to, he would rather get fucked instead, he wrapped his legs around Hugo and pulled him closer, hands moving to wrap around his shoulders. One hand sliding up into his hair and grabbing it as he kissed him some more. Rough and hasty as he went back to grinding himself against Hugo, enjoying the little moan he gave into his mouth.

"I'll work later." Managing it between kisses as he moved one hand off the man's back to slide to the waist band of his boxers, working on tugging them down only for Hugo to catch his wrists and pin his hands by his head. A smile on his face and Priest blinked when he noticed the man was already redressed...  _when the hell did he-_

"Mr. Priest, you have to go back to work." Priest sat up, blinking and squinting when he realized he wasn't with Hugo anymore, and instead now sitting on the couch with his hands cuffed and reaching out from trying to grab for Hugo again. It was disorienting and confusing. He had to squint against the bright light of the sun shining into the motel room before he looked over to Dirk who looked frozen in place with a hand out like he was about to touch him. Priest slowly dropped his hands and gave an annoyed groan as he listened to the chain rattle from the movement.

"What, Dirk?" Asked in annoyance, but Hugo was right about the fact he actually felt well rested. Now just incredibly horny... He would like to go back to sleep to finish getting fucked by Hugo rather than deal with this bullshit.

"We uhm... well I-"

"Just spit it out." He wasn't in the mood for his stammering and nervousness right now, he looked to his cuffs before glancing up to see Farah getting ready for them to leave, noticed Todd and Dirk were already dressed... How long was he out?

"We were going to get food, and I was wondering if you wanted anything." He probably should go with them, but he didn't even want to fight the fact they planned to leave him here like this, just rolled over on his side after laying back down.

"I'll eat anything I'm not picky."

"Great! Sorry for waking you." He could hear them move, and just continued to lay there waiting to see if the brand would go off, but it thankfully didn't. He counted in his head for how long it would take them to exit the hallway and rolled on his back again, hooking his arms over the arm of the couch and staring at the ceiling. Letting one leg stretch out as he bent the other. Shifting in his spot, biting his lip as he just thought about Hugo. Hands moving to rub against the brand, enjoying the feeling of it as he glanced around. Guessing he was alone so he could go ahead and take care of himself, he slid his hands down, palming at himself and leaned his head back with a soft moan. Eyes closing as he bit his bottom lip, sliding his hands in his boxers actually enjoying the feeling of the cold metal against his skin as he moved to wrap a hand around his cock. Slowly pumping his hand along it and squirming when he actually was triggering the nice feeling from using his branded hand. Fu- that was actually more intense-

"Hello," His eyes snapped open and he quickly sat up pulling his hand away. Heart racing until he sighed and laid back down from seeing Hugo.

"You're going to give me a heart attack with this whole teleporting bullshit one day." Muttering under his breath and hearing Hugo actually laugh about it.

"They should be gone for a while." He could hear a mischievous tone in his voice, he looked back at him and arched a brow with an amused smile. Watching as the man got on the couch and easily slid between his legs, hands moving from his knees and down his inner thighs to spread his legs more to accommodate him slipping between them.

"Yeah?" Amused tone in his voice as he shifted to get more comfortable. "Brands not gonna go off and ruin this is it?" He snapped the words, moving his chained hands as he grabbed Hugo by the front of his shirt and pulled him closer. Not wanting to deal with that bullshit now that the man was here to indulge him in his current needs.

"It like... shouldn't..." He didn't sound so sure though. Priest ignored that for now as he just kissed him, breaking it temporarily to moved his arms around his shoulders. Pulling him closer as Hugo started to grind against him, could feel the man's hands sliding down his sides hooking his fingers under the band of his boxers before tugging them down. Priest continued to rock his body against Hugo's pulling at his clothes again to once more get them off. Fighting against his bindings, he gasped when he felt something wrap around the cuffs and force his hands above his head. Effectively pinning them against the arm of the couch, he couldn't help but wonder if it was whatever Hugo used to hold him down before in the car. He glanced up and gasped when Hugo started to rock his hips against his ass, feeling himself being rocked up the couch. He wrapped his legs tighter around him from the feeling of it, heat surging up his spine to match each rock of his hips.

"Let's do this before they get back." He grunted, getting a small laugh from Hugo. He watched as the man sat up and worked on getting his clothes off, eyes drinking in the view as he fought against his restraints. Giving a pleased noise when they vanished. He was quick to sit up, hands moving to Hugo's hips following along his belt as he worked on getting it undone before unbuttoning and unzipping his pants. Eagerly tugging them down as he got up and shoved Hugo into the couch so the man was sitting and he was straddling his lap. Getting up high on his knees to pull is boxers all the way off was Hugo just smiled up at him. Priest could feel his cock rubbing against the man's skin as he lowered himself down to grind his ass against the man's cock. Biting his lip before leaning over him arms wrapping around his neck as he leaned in and kissed him. Biting at his lips as he continued to grind his hips down on him, rocking back up and repeating the process in an almost mind-numbing state. Too horny to really do anything about it but it felt too good to stop, he gasped when he felt slick wet fingers against him before two pressed into him. He wrapped his arms tighter around him, moaning against the man's mouth as he felt him curl his fingers into his prostate. He could feel beads of sweat on his forehead already as he kissed him, wanting to wipe that stupid smile off his face that he saw when his eyes fluttered open.

"You know... Mr. Priest... if I like... knew... sleeping with you was like something to do to get you to listen to me, we totally could have done this before." He grabbed his hair roughly, tugging his head back with a small giggle as he started rocking his hips down on his fingers, working against them and giving a soft moan.

"Trust me, Hugo... Fuckin' me don't mean I'll listen to ya." He could hear the man sigh and felt him lean his head back. He moved his hands to Hugo's shoulders, sitting up more as he continued to fuck himself against his hand.

"I know... I just... like... Kind of wished it worked, it's like so much easier than this whole branding thing." He moved his hands from his shoulders towards his throat. Eyes getting heavy as he started to wrap his hands around his neck, watching what he was doing rather than Hugo as he began to squeeze. He blinked from how quickly the man rotated them, blinking up at Hugo who caught his wrists and pinned them down into the couch, feeling the boy's cock against his ass before he started to press in. He gasped, head leaning back with a heavy moan as he tightened his legs around him. Biting his tongue to stop the light whimper as the man above him just smiled before starting to thrust into him. Priest could barely catch his breath, each time the boy pulled back enough he felt he could breathe he was thrusting back into him. He could feel his breath hitching with each thrust as he squeezed him tightly with his legs almost like he was trying to slow him down. Toes already curling as he fought against the grip holding him. Back arching before Hugo finally let go. One hand traveling down his side to his hip, pulling him up higher into his thrusts, the other gripping at the couch cushion. Priest's eyes were closed tight, brows furrowed and head leaned back as he wrapped his arms around Hugo's shoulders again.

One hand sliding down to scratch at his back as the other slid up into his hair. He turned his head to kiss the man, tasting his breath and biting his bottom lip as they moaned into one another's mouths. Priest's stomach was building with a heat that had him pressing himself into Hugo's thrusts the best he could, head leaning back again with a loud moan from a particularly hard thrust right into his prostate.

"Ah-Hugo!" He closed his eyes tight, moaning louder as his ankles locked behind his back. "Fu--" He just kept hitting that spot. "Right... right there." He moved a hand off the man to grab at the couch behind his head as he continued to rock himself into his thrusts, felt so close, like he was almost there. Felt like his bones were vibrating from each thrust, his breath catching in the back of his throat as he bit his lip to the point he knew it was bleeding again. Other hand scratching down Hugo's back, listening to him moan as the man kissed and bit along his throat. Doing it to the point he knew it would mark-

"-probably still aslee-" Priest whimpered as he looked to the door that was now open, Dirk standing in the door way with a surprised look on his face which was beat red as he quickly stepped back into the hallway and slammed the door.

"Oh." Was all he could hear Hugo saying, Priest couldn't stop himself from laughing as he could hear what sounded a little like arguing outside the door. He moved his hands to Hugo's face pulling him back into a kiss, going back to rocking his body against him. Not even caring if he was making the trio wait, he was so close now. Hugo luckily was distracted enough by it he went back to fucking him into the couch, thrusts getting harder and sliding him up the couch till his shoulders were pressed into the arm of the couch. He moved both hands to grab onto it, head leaning back with a heavy moan as he tightened up around Hugo. Squirming as the man ran his hands along his body, he could feel his cock twitching as he came. Moan muffled by Hugo kissing him and he could feel the man continuing to fuck him, the man's hands resting on the arm of the couch by his head as he sat up higher on his knees and continued to thrust into him. Priest moved his hands scratching down Hugo's stomach before sliding them back up to playfully run his thumbs along the boy's nipples. Smile on his face as he watched him give a pretty moan and shudder before leaning back over him. Priest slid his hands up into Hugo's hair, tugging him back down into a rough kiss.

Both of them moaning into one another's mouths as the over stimulation had Priest squirming and pressing himself against him. Tightening around him and legs squeezing making everything feel more intense as he leaned his head back. Almost felt like he might get off again as Hugo started to grind into him, he moved to press his feet into the couch lifting his hips and leaning his head back with a silent moan when he felt the man cum inside of him. Toes curling from the sensation as Hugo rode out his orgasm before stopping his hips firmly against his ass. Priest was panting, trying to catch his breath and find words before cupping the man's face and pulling him in for a deep and rough kiss. Biting his tongue and lips and getting a small groan from the man who pulled his head back.

"Okay, I really have to go Mr. Priest... Maybe we can like, do this again some time."

"Wait, before you run off. I have one more question about the brand." Hugo just started laughing, he watched him sit up and began squirming from the sensation of Hugo pulling out of him. He closed his eyes and bit his lip muffling his moan as Hugo got off the couch.

"No." He sat up about to protest but the man was already gone, groaning as he laid there catching his breath before he slowly got up and grabbed his pants while heading to the bathroom, which he guessed was right on time as he could feel Hugo's cum starting to trickle out of him and down his thigh.

"We're done now!" He called to the door while shutting the bathroom door behind him and starting up the shower. Climbing in to begin cleaning himself, giggling when he realized he still had dried blood on him from the people he killed yesterday. He felt in a much better mood already as he washed the sweat, sex, and blood off of himself, slowly peeling the bandages off his nose before leaning his head back into the stream of water. Just enjoying it as he listened to movement in the room on the other side of the door. Once he was clean he turned off the shower and stepped out, grabbing a towel and drying himself off before grabbing the med kit to replace the bandages on his nose and then slowly peeling off and replacing the ones on his forehead. He shifted and slowly pulled his pants on, buttoning them up and doing up his belt before walking out into the room. Dirk not even able to look at him but Farah and Todd both looked suspicious, he couldn't stop his smile as he walked passed them and over to his bag of clothes to grab a new shirt and slip it on.

"Here... here's your food, Mr. Priest." He couldn't stop his amused smile from Dirk motioning over to the container on the coffee table for him. Could still see a deep blush on the boy's face as he picked it up and sat on the couch. Opening the container before starting to eat the breakfast food in there, which tasted so good. He doubted it even was, he was just that hungry he couldn't stop himself from eating the entire thing before leaning back on the couch.

"Thanks for the food." He set the container down and glanced up to see Todd just staring at him. "What?"

"You could have put a sock on the door you know." Priest blinked at him before starting to giggle, doubted he could reach the door with how short the chain was. And he definitely wasn't going to stop to try and give them a warning he was getting fucked when Hugo uncuffed him. He just shrugged his shoulders, smile on his face as he put his arms over the back of the couch.

"I'll keep that in mind for next time, so what's the plan for the day, we goin' to that Golden Tree place?" He asked with an amused smile, feeling so much better after getting that out of his system.

"The Golden Oak, and yes that is the plan." Farah stated Priest finally got up and started to put his holsters back on and load up his weapons. Getting ready before turning to look at them while moving to the door and opening it for them.

"Alright, let's go then." He mused the words out, watching the Trio who headed for the door after getting what they needed. Priest pulled his jacket back on and they all headed out towards the Suburban, Priest sitting in the front and moving his hands to the handle waiting as Farah cuffed him again before shutting his door for him. Priest glanced down to see the clock curious what the time was given he didn't have a phone to check, watching as the car turned on to display that it was noon before he looked back out the window.

"You seem in a much better mood, it's rather unnerving." Priest couldn't stop his giggle from Farah's statement. Watching as she backed out of the space and they started to drive down the road to go to whatever this Golden Oak place was.

"Sleep and sex really do wonders." He mused hearing a heavy sigh from the back seat, he couldn't stop his smile as he looked out the window.

"Okay can I ask one thing because this is really starting to bug me? In like this really annoying way so I just have to say it." Priest glanced back at Dirk who was leaning closer towards the center console to look at him. "Mr. Priest... why were you so cruel to me about a sexuality I was questioning if you yourself are in fact queer?" Priest leaned back in his seat, biting his lip from that to stop from laughing. He tilted his head before just shrugging his shoulders. "Like it just has been eating at me since I've seen you with Paul, and since we're stuck working together I just... I just want to know." Priest clicked his tongue, trying to think of how to word this without having to get into an annoying argument that would ruin his good mood.

"I know I ain't the only one who said bullshit to you about that. Scott said he would fix you right?" He sounded slightly amused, shifting in his seat from the uncomfortable silence that filled the car. "Got that speech to, ya know, on top of the fact I grew up in a place I knew without a doubt my old man would kill me if he knew." Make it sound like it was actions he regretted even though he actually didn't, but if this would work in the long run then sure. He would abuse his 'sob story' past to get closer to the trio.

"Oh... I'm-"

"What all did I miss with your little breakfast adventure?" He figured he should ask, break the topic of conversation to something actually important. After all, he knew Dirk was known for having strange events happen in the most normal of places. He could hear Dirk clear his throat before sitting up, watching him in the rearview mirror.

"Oh, nothing, we just got breakfast and picked you up something before heading back. Figured you could use the sleep was all." He shifted before giving an amused smile.

"So, what would have happened if y'all leavin me set off the brand again." He mused out the question, glancing over to Farah who shifted in her seat.

"One of the reasons we kind of hurried back just in case that happened." He couldn't help but laugh at that, that they were willing to just leave him in pain under the guise of trying to be nice and let him sleep even though they could have ended up leaving him in massive amounts of pain.

"Lovely plan." He mused the words, watching as they pulled into a parking lot of The Golden Oak, which looked like a land scaping place. Farah parked the car and got out to unlock his cuffs, he climbed out of the car and rubbed his wrists while looking around. Sliding the strap of his machine gun on as the four of them headed towards the doors. Priest easily getting distracted by some of the plants in there, heading over to some that actually looked like they needed to be replanted, growing too big for their current homes in a way they just looked sad. He figured for a store regarding this shit they would actually be competent enough with their jobs. Was tempted to repot them as Dirk, Todd and Farah talked while looking around the store for their mystery man. Didn't get what someone with Five Hundred Million Dollars would even be doing working a place like this.

"It's a nice specimen huh?" He glanced up to the worker and arched a brow, noticing Dirk, Todd and Farah looking over to them.

"It needs to be replanted, there's also a lot of dead leaves, and the flowers aren't even in full bloom... Do you guys even take care of your plants or just try to sell em off as is?" He asked in amusement, seeing the man blinking a few times while looking from him to the obviously dying Hydrangea Tree.

"Look, dude, I just started yesterday, I didn't kill the tree." Priest rolled his eyes, could see Dirk staring at the man and watched as he walked over to him.

"You were at The Worm Hole." Priest looked from Dirk back to the man who stiffened up with wide eyes, suddenly remembering him. He looked a lot different in these clothes compared to the nice server clothes he wore up on stage, he was the gentleman that brought the rat over to Monique to test out the crystal. Priest grunted when the man actually  _threw_  some poor potted white calla lilies at them. He ducked so it didn't hit him hearing the rest of the trio move as the pot shattered behind them. Honestly feeling bad for the plants as he pulled his machine gun in front of him.

"Don't-"

"Kill him yeah, yeah I got it." Priest snapped as he took off after the man with Farah close at his heels, they ran through the aisles, people moving out of their way as they chased the man through the store. Getting to the back where they were doing big set ups for plants they were moving to people's houses. Jumping over some fertilizer he raised his gun and shot at the boy's feet watching him stumble and trip to stay out of the gunfire before turning to look at him. Farah moved between them and Priest grunted while lowering his gun when her presence in front of it was making the brand throb. He walked next to her keeping his gun aimed at the floor as Farah kept her own gun on the guy who was raising his hands.

"Where's the crystal?"

"I-I... I don't know. Man. Okay. I don't know, I did what Cosima said. I got her the money from the auction and then I went home. I don't know what she did with it after, I didn't ask questions. I didn't even want to help her in the beginning but I was scared for my life, okay? Like you don't understand what she can like... do? I swear I don't have it, I don't even want to have it. That thing is terrifying-"

"Who's Cosima?" Priest glanced up to see Todd and Dirk there, both of them catching their breath as the man looked to them and then back over to Farah and him.

"Cosima... She... she's the girl from Stone in the Sky? I... aren't you part of that one guy's crew?" He sounded confused now. Priest couldn't stop himself from laughing as he lowered his gun completely, hand moving to rub his face as he could hear police sirens in the distance.

"You don't have the Crystal?" She finally asked and the man shook his head.

"I don't even think The Worm Hole had the crystal, like... Cosima is protecting that thing with her life."

"Then why did that rat like explode when it touched the crystal at The Worm Hole?" Todd was sounding annoyed now, Priest rested his arm over the machine gun. Head turning as he listened to the sirens, hand throbbing in warning. He knew he either had to get them out of there before they arrived, or... fuck... Give himself up to them to avoid a shootout? He gritted his teeth at the thought while looking to Farah.

"We need to go." He said it under his breath.

"Cosima set that up, I don't know what they used at the auction but it was worthless, she was in the front and she... the rat she..." Priest looked back to him, starting to get a tingling sensation up his spine as he thought of that weird feeling when they were outside of Stone in the Sky. Of the warning throb, he grabbed Farah and tugged on her arm.

"We have to go." He needed to think on this, he needed to do research, he wanted access to Blackwing's files but he knew that was impossible with Ken currently against him. He was already starting to walk turning to look as police filed into the room. He narrowed his eyes and moved wrapping an arm around Dirk while drawing a handgun and putting it to the boy's head as the police ordered him to freeze. "I'll kill him if you guys move." He lied easily, could feel how tense the boy got as he slowly started to back up towards the door, taking Dirk with him. The boy's hands half raised and he could feel his heart pounding in his chest as Priest used him as a human shield. "Trust me." He said it softly to the boy who he could hear swallow as he shoved open the fire exit, listening the alarm that went off. Letting go of Dirk when the door shut behind them, he slipped his hand gun away while looking over to the boy with an amused smile. "Alright, I'm going to continue down that hall, and walk right into more of them."

"Wait! Mr. Priest, surely there is a way to get out of this that doesn't involve you getting caught-"

"They already know who I am from when they came in. They will get people swarming all over this place. Now to avoid my brand going off I'm going to do my job. But hey, don't worry, I'm sure Hugo will get me out of this." Actually amused by how caring the boy was, watching as he stepped closed to try and argue. "See ya back at the motel." Waving a hand as he turned and headed down the hall. 

"Be careful, Mr. Priest." He could hear the boy calling after him as he just smiled and continued down the hall. Shoving the door open, and as he expected, walked right into the view of more armed officers who had their guns aimed right at him. SWAT even pulling up and getting out to join the officers, and clearly getting ready to take over in case he fought them. But he couldn't risk a stray bullet somehow hitting one of the trio.

"Osmund Priest!" He put his hands half up in surrender, glancing up when he could see helicopters already coming in. Ones he recognized as news helicopters, meaning his location would be known and they might have to deal with what was left of Blackwing... Wasn't that just perfect- "Put your hands on your head and get on the ground." He giggled to himself about this wonderful turn of events, curious how he would get out of this as he lowered himself on his knees. Putting his hands on his head and waiting as a team moved in to remove his weapons after cuffing his hands behind his back, being a bit rough about it before he was dragged off and shoved in the back of a police car. He shifted in his seat, leaning back against the uncomfortable plastic of it as he looked out the window, slowly leaning forwards and pressing his cheek against the cage when the officers got in and quickly started to drive with an escort towards what he was assuming was the jail.

"So... not goin' to read me my rights?" He honestly was getting giddy now, kind of hoped Ken himself would show up to try and deal with him while he was in jail. He pulled against his cuffs one of the cops hitting the cage and he pulled back with an amused smile. "Lucky people like me don't get lawyers." He mused out the words, just trying to make small talk as he looked out the window again. Biting his lip while thinking of how he was going to get out of this. Could put up a fight at the police station especially if he was invincible when that happened. He didn't know if it would though, could see if Hugo would get him out... Could try to sneak out. He bit his lip when the car eventually came to a stop, reporters already swarming the area causing them to take the back way where he was then rather roughly pulled out of the car and lead. He did a quick look around to see how many people were there as he was brought towards an elevator. 

Waiting before slamming into one of the cops and smashing him into a wall, getting him down with a surprised grunt as he turned and kicked the other guy in the face. Giggling from how hard he fell as he maneuvered and crouched down slowly slipping his hands under his feet and in front of him. Grabbing for one of the guns, standing up and aiming the gun at that officer's head, about to pull the trigger with a large grin on his face only to be tased and drop to the ground. He gave a pained grunt from the electrical current running through his body, teeth grinding together as he shifted and moved his hands trying to grab the little metal prongs to try and pry them off before he was kicked right in the face making everything around him go dark.

He wasn't sure how long he was out, he woke up with a small groan, slowly raising his head, he could taste blood so he was sure he wasn't in the best of shape right now. He turned his head and spit it off to the side, body feeling achy and sore as he tried to sit up, hands pulling to move towards his face only to have them be pulled short. He blinked a few times before seeing his hands cuffed to a table, eyes lingering on it before he realized he was in an interrogation room. He looked up and blinked when he actually saw what he assumed was a Blackwing Agent standing across from him with a gun in his hand. Could see the camera in the corner of the room turned upwards so it wasn't facing them and grinned as he looked back to the man.

"Evening Officer~" Playful tone in his voice as he smiled at the man who sighed while staring at him.

"Figured you would put up more of a fight, Mr. Priest. I was rather disappointed when you surrendered so willingly. Thought for sure someone like you would go out in a blaze of glory rather than whimpering like an old dog." He watched the man motion to him with the gun, Priest leaned forwards, resting his chin on the table as he shifted slightly in his seat.

"You know, I keep getting people comparing me to a dog, it's kind of getting old." He stood up, watching as the man just stared at him as he pulled on the cuffs restraining him to the table. "Come to execute me? I feel so honored." He ran his tongue over his bloodied lips while looking the man over, he knew he knew the guy just for the life of him couldn't remember his name. Then again, he never really did pay attention to anyone's name if they weren't part of his crew. Too big of a turnover rate in Blackwing to even bother. His eyes getting heavy now as he kept his smile on his face, just wanting to get out of the cuffs and kill him so he could get out of there.

"No. I'm under strict orders to not let you go anywhere until the extraction team arrives, Mr. Priest. I was also asked to find out who were you protecting in the store though. Supervisor Adams said the footage inside The Golden Oak was heavily distorted." So, this must be his replacement, what a fucking low blow that was. Send in an agent that took his job of Ken's right hand... now he really wanted to kill him, also wanted to ask if he was sleeping with Ken too.

"No one." He stated with a grin on his face. "Just wanted to start a new garden since I've once more been forced into retirement." He shrugged boredly, listening to the man sigh while motioning at him.

"I don't have time for games, Osmund." Priest kicked the table, hating that it was bolted down and didn't budge at all from the motion as he stepped closer to it. Staring the man down while tugging on the chains just wanting to get free and to strangle him.

"You're wastin your time workin for that asshole, look at his fuckin' track record. Killed one person he worked close with, and turned on the second person he worked with. Eventually it will be your turn. Now why don't ya just do it? Go ahead, shoot me, I wanna see what happens." Daring him, he watched as the man slowly slipped his gun away, other hand pressing against his ear piece like he was getting an order. "That Ken? Let me talk to him." The agent just rolled his eyes while turning to head to the door. "Come on Ken, don't even have the balls to show up here and kill me with your own hands!?" He called after the agent hoping Ken could hear him. He watched as the agent opened the door, he could smell the blood already. He watched as agents walked into the room, one pulling out their electric baton.  _Did that mean they were going to take me?_

He took a step back, watching as the agent started to set the baton against the table, his heart was hammering as he watched his finger move towards the button knowing that was going to hurt when it went off. He flinched when the Agent was yanked under the table, listening to the surprised cry, the sudden cracking of bones. He watched as the other Agents lifted their guns to aim at something behind him. He could feel a darkness growing in the room as he saw black tendrils coming from the ceiling and the floors more or less ripping agents apart one of the bullets that went flying ricocheting and nicking his cuffs breaking them. He slowly turned to look at Hugo who was standing in the corner of the room next to a portal.

"You gonna let me kill Ken now?" Priest asked with a bit of surprise as he watched the black, now blood-soaked, tendrils shrink down and disappear into his body.

"Mr. Priest, they were definitely not going to take you anywhere near Ken." Hugo stated while turning towards the portal. "And hey... Good job keeping them safe." He sighed from annoyance at the statement while wiping his hand over his mouth and smearing his own blood over his face in the action.

"Yeah, yeah, do I get a cookie or something?" Sarcastic tone, he actually perked up though when he saw the man holding up an orange wrapper he easily recognized. Reaching over and grabbing the kit-kat and opening it, happily eating it as they walked through the portal. Priest glanced around when he ended up alone outside of the motel room. Head tilting wondering if Hugo just went back to whatever plane of existence he lived on then. He was sure he was going to be in for a treat having to deal with Farah and Todd about pulling the gun on Dirk. He sighed heavily at the thought of the drama that would come from that as he lifted his hand and slowly knocked on the door, waiting impatiently while finishing off the candy bar. Eventually the door opened and he boredly tossed the garbage out in the hall while shoving the door all the way open and walking in.

"Mr. Priest! How did you-"

"Hugo." He blinked when Todd stood between him and Dirk who he had forced out of the way to enter the motel room. The man pointing an accusatory finger at him while glaring up at him.

"You put a gun to Dirk's head and threatened to shoot him." Yep, just like he figured would happen.

"I was bluffing, if I was really going to try I would have been on the ground in pain. I don't know if you noticed, but this thing seems to feed of my intentions, which is why it hurts me before I even  _try_  to hurt you." He muttered under his breath, stepping around Todd. "Now if you'll excuse me I'm going to clean my face off and probably fix my nose given I have no idea what it looks like right now-"

"How do we know you won't do that again and then kill one of us!" Todd shouted, he could see Dirk moving to put a hand on Todd's arm, getting the man's attention to him. He watched the way they looked at one another, having an almost annoying energy between them as Dirk gave him a reassuring look.

"I'm fine, Todd. I really don't think Mr. Priest would hurt me, under these circumstances anyway." He rolled his eyes from the statement while crossing his arms over his chest.

"I kind of enjoy not having this lovely brand of mine eat me from the inside out." He mused the words getting a small glare from Todd.

"I just worry that him sleeping with his boss is going to give him some slack." Priest couldn't help but laugh at the statement, seeing Farah was clearly thinking the same thing from how she shifted at Todd's words. Like she was reading his mind, starting to wonder now if he could force Hugo to tell them about the stupid brand so they could get over this already.

"Maybe I can get Hugo to explain how this thing works to you guys. Cause trust me, I definitely tried to get some slack about it but he wasn't having it."

"So you say." Todd stated in obvious annoyance, he rolled his eyes while shifting in his stance.

"Right, well, while you guys argue about this I'm going to clean up." He stated while heading into the bathroom, shutting the door and peeling the bandages off his nose. Sighing from how skewed it was before realigning the cartilage and bandaging his nose back together. Working on washing the blood off his face and making sure everything looked fine as he stepped out of the bathroom and headed towards the couch.

"Hey... Mr. Priest." He stopped to look at Dirk seeing the boy shifting some in his spot.

"Yeah?" He arched a brow in curiosity watching as he kept his eyes down cast while fiddling with his tie.

"I got you something for helping us out. I know we don't always get along and have a lot of issues while planning things, but I thought maybe this could be some type of peace offering type thing?" He could see Todd sighing, the man seeming so resigned about whatever this was. Priest turned to give the boy his full attention. Blinking when the boy moved over and grabbed a pot he didn't notice originally and hold it out to him. Giving an amused smile as he looked to the grey colored square pot that held a few Venus fly traps in them. "I get the feeling you might like carnivorous plants more, but I also know like nothing about plants so I-" He stepped over and picked it up to look at them. At least he wouldn't go completely insane now that he had something to pay attention to other than them.

"Thank you, Dirk." Looking them over to make sure they were healthy at least before setting them down on the coffee table, eyeing them a little more as he sat down. Would have to find a better set up for them so they could get light, he turned his head to look towards the window debating it as he stood up and picked up the pot to head over to the window. Making sure there was still decent amount of light as he set it down and touched the soil to see how it was doing. Could notice Dirk looking rather giddy from where he stood like he was pleased how that turned out.

"Okay, we should get back to the case." Once satisfied he headed back over to couch and sat back down to see what all Farah was about to start doing. "I've been working on some things," he watched as Farah set up a board in front of them. Priest leaned back on the couch and watched Dirk and Todd give Farah their attention. "So, the Crystal supposedly belongs to Cheryl, but Priest you mentioned knowing the real owner?"

"Hugo. He was after the Crystal originally and it was already gone when he went to Cheryl so he told her to contact Dirk." He watched as Farah wrote that down while looking to the board.

"Alright so Hugo, went to Cheryl, but Cheryl was already robbed by someone, who I think might be this Cosima character." Circling her name, Priest watched before glancing at Dirk feeling like this was something he should be figuring out being a Detective and all. "She has been leading Mr. Host and his group around looking for money... obviously with how blunt she was about wanting money." She even put some dollar signs next to her name before looking over at them. "With the distraction team in The Worm Hole, I feel like the five million dollars was what they were originally supposed to pay for it. But they might have caught on that the crystal they were showing was the fake crystal and seemed to have backed out..."

"Or maybe Cosima was just trying to raise more money and unfortunately didn't realize that Mr. Host's people would be there?" Dirk asked while tilting his head seeing Farah slowly writing that theory down.

"That is possible..." She stated while looking back to the board she was writing on. "Either way Cosima has been hiding in Stone in the Sky, trying to get money from Mr. Host for the Crystal and still managed to get money from the Auction anyway which is where Brad from The Golden Oak came into play, working with her for that before leaving and trying to go back to a normal life. What I don't understand is why have this big goose chase and why is Cosima making this such a huge thing and what does she want with the crystal?" Farah was scratching her head with the back of her marker.

"I guess we should go back to Stone in the Sky and see if she'll talk to us." Dirk said with a small sigh, Priest leaned back in his seat again and put his feet on the table making sure to be careful of the plant on it as he looked the board over.

"I doubt she's still there." He stated with a small shrug, watching as they all looked to him. "Stone in the Sky reeked of blood, meaning she clearly killed the original owners and was just staying there for this. Brad might have more information on her... Mr. Host might as well, he definitely seemed to be on to her schemes from how he spoke about her back at Tracey's."

"You will not be torturing Brad for information, Priest." Farah stated in a harsh tone, Priest rolled his eyes while putting his arms on the back of the couch.

"You guys are so fucking soft... wait... wait." He grinned while leaning forwards, eyes getting heavy with sadistic delight. "That mean I getta torture Mr. Host instead?"

"No!" They all shouted in unison and Priest rolled his eyes while leaning back again.

"Ya'll are no fun. Have I mentioned that?"

"Moving on. I will see if I can find anything out about Cosima, and then we will move from there, unless Dirk, do you have any hunches?"

"I really think we should go to Stone in the Sky." Priest gave a heavy sigh before standing up. Moving over to the table to reload his weapons, really glad he had more of them after they were all taken away by the police. Couldn't help but wonder though if Blackwing was going to be more of a problem, felt like their numbers had dwindled considerably with the outbreak. But he wouldn't be surprised if Ken spent most of his time recruiting more foot soldiers... wasn't sure if he should tell them or not that they might get more involved with them if he kept getting spotted. Just now really wanted that phone so he could call Monique and see if she would be willing to remove him from America's Most Wanted.

"Let's get going then."


	6. Fool's Errand

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Scooby Gang once more argue and bicker about a plan before Priest just runs off to do his thing. Things get intense as the trio investigate the Stone in the Sky and Priest faces off with his Replacement.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Characters** : Osmund Priest. Dirk Gently. Todd Brotzman. Farah Black. Mona Wilder. Hugo Friedkin.   
> **Warnings** : Violence. Murder. FIGHT SCENE. Break Down. Lots of changed perspective cause like RIP in peace everyone this chapter played out like a movie in my head so I wrote it like a movie.   
> **Note** : Just so you all know if you don’t follow me on Tumblr.   
> Roscoe Calitri’s FC is Colin Farrell.   
> Fight me.   
> Also, Walden is a made up down just so everyone knows. If it’s the name of a real town then whoops my bad.   
> Also sorry, short chapter. ;;A;;

Priest was thankful when Farah didn’t handcuff him that time, so he spent the beginning of it fiddling with the radio trying to find a good station to stop it on. Only reminding him that when he eventually got his phone back he would have to redownload all of his music and set up his playlists. The hassle of it already becoming something he was dreading. He could tell from the random sighs from Farah she was getting annoyed with him flipping from channel to channel even eventually just shooed his hand away and changed the station. He groaned when she changed it to an AM station and stopped it on a news report. Priest was narrowing his eyes on it as the DJ began to talk about an incident that happened that day which he was sure had to do with him.

_\--”Yes_ _, that’s right, Osmund Priest was caught in our very own town at The Golden Oak, it’s kind of terrifying if I’m honest.”_  He gave a small laugh at that while looking out the window as Farah kept driving, noticing Todd and Dirk had quieted down to listen. Or rather, Dirk silenced Todd so he could listen.

_\--”But_ _they have him now, right?”_  A female voice pitched in.

_\--”Not_ _anymore... oh it’s horrible, he appears to have murdered everyone in the police station and it’s now been taken over by the CIA. My heart goes out to everyone in Walden who lost someone in today’s massacre.”_  Priest grit his teeth from that moving to change the station only for Farah to catch his wrist and give him a pointed look.

“You killed them?” Farah sounded angry, and disappointed, he could see her visibly shaken as she gripped the wheel tighter. “They were just doing their jobs! You didn’t have to slaughter them!”

“I didn’t kill anyone!” He snapped back at her, annoyed by the accusation. “Blackwing killed everyone and was planning on extracting me till Hugo came in and killed the soldiers and brought me back to the motel.” He stated with narrowed eyes. The rest of the car felt tense and he looked to Dirk who gently tugged on his jacket sleeve to get his attention. “What?” He asked in annoyance, seeing the boy flinch before he cleared his throat.

“You said you destroyed Blackwing.” Priest shifted in his seat before rubbing his face.

“Most of Blackwing, I don’t know how many people got out for sure aside from my team, Ken, and a handful of his people.”  _Calitri_ _!_  The name hit him fast as he sat up in his seat, blinking a few times when he realized that might be a problem. He would have to keep an eye out for CVT cameras not that they knew where to look for him. He took in a deep breath and slowly let it out, giggling to himself while rubbing his face. “Hey, Dirk, you ever meet Agent Calitri?” He glanced back at him.

“The name doesn’t sound familiar... why?” Priest looked back ahead, that was good at least... maybe... He wasn’t too sure now, he definitely couldn’t expect anyone to recognize him if they didn’t know what he looked like. “Should... should I know him?” Priest gave a small groan while leaning back in his seat.

“He’s currently leading the team that’s here. He’s smart... too smart. Wouldn’t be surprised if he went undercover to try and find us, which if that is the case, then was hopin’ you know what he looks like to avoid him or give us a heads up. In the meantime, Farah do the best you can to avoid cameras. Then again, don’t even know how scattered they are right now, clearly not in as bad of a condition as I hoped they were in given they sent in a team large enough to wipe out a police station.”

“Mr. Priest.” He glanced back at the boy, watching Dirk shift in his spot while fixing the creases in his pants. “Maybe we should find a disguise for you...” Farah slowed the car down and pulled off to the side away from Stone in the Sky when they saw the large SUV type vehicles swarming it. Priest could see the Blackwing Veiled agents running around along with Scientists collecting data from inside of the place as Farah took in a deep breath and started to drive again. “We need to go in there.” Dirk said under his breath.

“Sure, Blackwing would be so happy ta see ya, Dirk.” Priest stated sarcastically, he checked the rearview mirror and could see a man in a suit standing away from the vehicles and staring at their car. “That’s him.” He sunk down in his seat, could see Dirk and Todd turning to look at the man as Farah checked her side mirror. “Pain in my ass.” He muttered while moving his hand to grab the machine gun. “Hey, maybe you should drop me off and I’ll go kill them for us so we can go in.” He mused the words out with a large grin.

“You’re not going to kill anyone unnecessarily Priest.”

“Alright, I’ll walk out there, they’ll open fire on me. And then I’ll kill them.” Farah gave an annoyed sigh as she just continued driving. Parking around the block before turning to look at them, mainly to look at Dirk.

“I really need to go in there.” Dirk stated, a lot more insistent this time. Priest clicked his tongue, debating things as they talked about what they could possibly do. The one Todd and Farah sounded in favor of was waiting until they left, but he got the feeling Blackwing might find whatever it is Dirk needed before they did that. He opened his door and grunted when Farah was quick to slap a cuff around his wrist and then cuff him to the steering wheel.

“The whole cuffing me thing is starting to get really old, Farah.”

“Priest, I am not letting you go kill them.” She stated with annoyance, he leaned back in his seat and tilted his head while watching her. A small smile crossing his face as he worked on how to spin this.

“Y’all don’t even like Blackwing, they’re endangering your case. I’ll get rid of them, and then we won’t have to worry about them till they send in a replacement team.  _If_  they even have the people for that. Which they might not, this could be their last team.” Although he doubted that, Ken probably had more keeping him safe.

“Wait, you have like your boss thing protecting you, right? Why not just go out there with no weapons and create a distraction.” Priest arched a brow as he looked to Todd, hand moving to grab the wheel he was cuffed to as he bit his tongue while thinking on the words.

“Todd, you tryin’ ta get me killed?” He asked in amusement.

“I saw people shoot at you while you stood out in the open and all their guns jam.” Todd stated in obvious irritation, he swore them trying to make him not kill people was going to kill him by the end of this. “I’m just saying I’m sure you can do something other than kill people, Ozzy.”

“ _Don’t_ call me that.” He snapped in annoyance, was irritated enough with him calling him Osmund, but Ozzy was too far over the line for his taste.

“Annoying being called a name you don’t like huh?” Todd snapped at him. He moved, hand yanking on the steering wheel as he turned to grab for Todd with his other hand. Wanting to strangle that smug mother fucker, only for his hand to seize up as the pain shot through it. He sat back in his seat with a cry in pain, biting his bottom lip and holding his hand close to his chest. Cursing under his breath as he kicked at the dashboard, trying to distract himself from the burning pain in his hand. “Guess sleeping with the boss isn’t cutting him slack.” He really wanted to punch Todd in the face for his annoying attitude. He grit his teeth and worked on catching his breath as the pain finally stopped, arm trembling from twitching muscles as he leaned forwards enough to rest his forehead against the dash.

“What’s the plan then, other than waiting for Blackwing to get what we need?” He asked through gritted teeth.

“We need a distraction, get them away from the store then Dirk and I can move in and get what we need.” Farah stated, obviously willing to play body guard and make sure Dirk was taken care of if they left people behind. Which would probably be the scientists which she could easily take down, they weren’t known much for being able to fight... Priest slowly sat up, couldn’t stop the giggle as he turned his head to look at her.

“Let me guess? Todd and I will be the distraction?” Amusement in his voice, Todd was shifting before pointing at him.

“I am not helping this asshole with anything-”

“Then let me do it by myself.” Priest snapped while sitting up again which triggered an annoying back and forth argument between the three of them. How they didn’t trust Priest not to kill anyone. How they couldn’t let Dirk go by himself. How Todd and Priest might end up trying to kill one another rather than being a successful distraction. It all just kept spiraling before stopping abruptly when Dirk grabbed Todd’s hand.

“Please calm down, you’re going to trigger an attack.” Priest was taking in a deep breath while moving a hand to rub his face. Could feel a headache coming on from all of this as Dirk tried to help Todd calm down. Just talking to him calmly about things that didn’t particularly pertain to what they needed to do. Once he seemed satisfied with that though he turned to look at them, “I feel we definitely need a distraction to get the bulk Agents out of there, and I agree that I will need someone with me in case something gets a little sketchy in Stone in the Sky.” Priest was chewing on his lip as Dirk shifted in his spot. “But I also don’t feel like Todd and Mr. Priest being alone together will be particularly good for any of us.” Priest found himself agreeing with that one.

“You want to send him as a distraction by himself?” Todd asked with a look of shock on his face. “Dirk, he’ll kill them.” Dirk was silent before looking out the window.

“Mr. Priest... you said they tried to extract you... That would mean they won’t try to kill you correct?” Priest shifted while tugging against the cuffs, a small smile pulling across his face from that.

“They’ll be suspicious if I’m goin’ there without weapons, Calitri already called me out on how I surrendered to the police earlier. He’ll be smart enough to know I’m up to something.” He explained there was a long pause of silence.

“Then we’ll think of something else.” Farah was drumming her fingers on the center console in thought. Dirk just gave a small sigh and opened the car door and stepped outside. 

“Where are you going?” Priest asked with narrowed eyes, the boy just shut the car door, turning and walking towards Stone in the Sky. Todd was quick to get out of the car and run after him, Farah was cursing under her breath but moving to uncuff him. He rubbed his wrist as he got out and grabbed his machine gun only to get a pointed look from Farah who was quick to follow him. Dirk looked to near tears when they caught up with him, which only increased Priest’s annoyance.

“I would just like to go into Stone in the Sky and grab what I need to grab and would appreciate it if we could all stop arguing for a few seconds.” Dirk stated in obvious frustration, Priest checked his machine gun before just walking passed them.

“Where are you going?” Todd asked in a hushed tone.

“I’m going to distract them.” Hopefully Hugo was free if something went terribly wrong, he moved to cross the street so he was standing farther away from them as he approached Stone in the Sky. Most agents too busy working to really see him so he raised his gun, and took aim. Honestly mainly looking for Calitri, felt taking down their leader might cause enough chaos in their ranks to distract them. Of course, that plan was quickly changed when another soldier noticed him and was about to let everyone know. He smiled as he shot the man down, watching how quickly the agents stopped what they were doing to aim their weapons at him. He could see Calitri now, and moved the gun to shoot the man only for another agent to get in the way right as he pulled the trigger. The agents were quick to move in, coming for him as he took body shots while moving backwards, that way he hit their vests when he noticed Farah and them moving closer out of the corner of his eye. Once he had enough of their attention he moved back into the alleyway of another building and could hear the agents chasing after him.

\---

Dirk was quick to lead the way when the agents moved after Priest, the scientists of course staying behind but Farah was quick to sneak up on them and take them down. Moving like what Dirk could only describe as some type of stealthy ninja to take them down in ways that he knew they would live from. Just be unconscious as she gave them the sign to move in. He took Todd by the hand and followed after her, inside the store the place was a mess. There were bodies... or what he assumed was bodies, under white sheets. Blood completely soaked through, it smelled of death in there. The place looked destroyed both from being searched and obviously an altercation of some sort. But Dirk did his best to ignore it as they moved deeper into the store, stopped once or twice so Farah could take down more scientists before they moved closer.

“It should be here.” He stated while jumping over the counter, albeit ungracefully and ending up tripping himself on the counter top by not getting enough height and falling clumsily on the other side with a loud ‘oof’. He blinked a few times and looked up at Todd who was leaning over the counter with a look of worry on his face.

“Dirk are you okay?”

“Perfectly fine! I totally meant to do that, you know... checking to see how the floors are behind the counter given the poor worker is stuck standing back here on their feet all day.” He laughed nervously getting an eyeroll and smile from the man. He just smiled back before forcing himself up to look for what he needed in the disaster that was behind the counter, some things looked cut clean in half. But eventually he saw what he needed. It looked just like the box that was given to Mr. Host at the bakery. He snagged it and jumped up triumphantly to hold it in the air. “Ah-ha!”

“Wait, isn’t that from the bakery?” He heard Farah asked, he glanced over to her before looking the box. Very easily recognizing the beautiful dark wood with hand carved designs on it. This was definitely what the Baker passed off to Mr. Host, but what was it doing here? He turned the box over and brought it to his ear when he thought he heard something rattle inside of it.

“How did it get here?” Dirk asked, as if one of his companions would know even though they very obviously wouldn’t.

\---

Now that he was out of view of the trio he definitely changed his tactic to lethal, taking out a few agents who ended up shooting at him. But from the burning bruising pain in his shoulder from a shot he took he found that they were using rubber bullets on him. He grunted while using his hand holding his hand gun to rub his shoulder seeing as he was out of bullets in his machine gun. But every time he thought he was in a good hiding position to reload the damn thing an agent snuck up and attacked him with one of those annoying electric batons. Which, luckily, he managed to fight them off and shoot them close range with a hand gun before moving on as others came to try and help take him down. He came to a stop and stared at the corner he ended up backing himself into. No longer having fences to jump or alleyways to duck down, just standing there surrounded by three brick walls.

“Shit.”

“Osmund Priest.” He could hear an almost bored tone coming from behind him, he quickly turned around and raised his hand gun to aim it at Calitri who was in the middle of unbuttoning his suit jacket. Hands moving to his tie and beginning to tug it loose. “By my count you’re out of bullets.” Priest took the shot anyway, blinking when instead of the fucker's head exploding his gun just clicked, he turned to look at it before looking back to Calitri who was removing his tie. Tossing it at one of the agents behind him who caught it for him, the man shifting in his stance while pulling on Kevlar gloves, the type with buckshot in the knuckles to make hits harder. “Think you could just pick us off? Rather bold of you.” Smile finally coming across his face as the man moved closer. Priest shifted in his own stance, pulling off his machine gun and setting it down while putting his handgun back in Its holster. Grabbing a knife out of its sheathe and getting in a better fighting stance, grin crossing his face as he looked the man over.

“Ya know, Calitri, think the thing that pisses me off the most about you is; you talk too much.” He mused the words out, waiting for him to make the first move. The man rolled his eyes from the comment while continuing to walk closer to him. Getting the man right where he wanted him so he could bury his knife in his throat.

\---

“What’s in it?” Todd asked as Dirk walked around the counter this time, slowly opening up the wooden box and looking inside of it to see it was actually empty. But there was a business card at the bottom, he handed the box to Farah who wanted to look at it while looking to the business card, eyes widening as he stared at it.

“Guys... Guys this... check this out. Cosima’s  _Holistic_ Retrieval Service.” Bouncing on his toes from that while waving the card before looking back to it with a large grin. “Cosima’s motto is; ‘I’ll get whatever you need, for the right price.’ So, she must have been hired to get the crystal and found out it was worth more than what Mr. Host was paying for it...” He looked to the card again, seeing a phone number on it he turned to show Todd who was leaning in to look at it better. The both flipped it over to see if there was anything on the back. “I’m surprised Mr. Priest didn’t recognize her if she’s a project...”

“Isn’t it possible that maybe Blackwing doesn’t know all the projects?” Farah asked, Dirk slowly looked over to her while thinking about it... he guessed that made sense given the things Todd and Amanda could do with their pararibulitus... or well Amanda at least with the help of the Rowdy 3. So perhaps there were others who were in the same boat, who could do things and Blackwing never found them...

“I suppose that’s very true.” He never felt the need to bring it to anyone’s attention though that Amanda and Todd could potentially fall into Blackwing’s radar. Honestly, the thought terrified him and he would much prefer to keep that terrifying idea to himself.

\---

Priest side stepped an attack, moving to try and drive the knife into Calitri’s face only for the man to block his arm. Well, kind of block his arm given the fact he was stronger than the man he got the knife close enough to cut his face as Calitri jumped back with an amused smile. Touching the new wound on his cheek and smearing the blood on his face before moving back in. Priest took the first swing this time, knife going for Calitri who used both hands to stop it, could feel his fingers going for pressure points as the man kicked for his stomach. He yanked his arm back and stepped back. Getting the man’s foot hitting him right in the thigh and staggering. He recovered from the hit and tried again, once more getting the man catching his arm with both hands, he swung a punch that the man ducked from. Pulling and twisting his arm trying to get the knife, Priest tossed it in the air, catching it and quickly swinging an attack on the Calitri, wanting to wipe the smug look on the man’s face. 

Only for him to duck under his arm and spin around him, twisting his arm behind his back. Priest grunted while turning to follow him twisting his arm and managing to trap Calitri’s between his arm and the man’s body as he slammed him hard enough into the wall to wind him. He moved the hand with the knife, aiming it down and moving to stab him, watching the man turn his face to avoid getting stabbed in it as his hands moved to catch that arm. Could feel his arms shaking from the tension as he pressed himself more into the wall to try and avoid getting stabbed, grunting in effort before he moved and kneed him hard in the side. Repeating the process until landing a good enough hit Priest pulled back just enough for Calitri to get off the wall. The man moving and getting out of his hold right as Priest came back at him with the knife.

“Fuck, you’re a slippery one, huh?” Priest mused the words, taking note that the other agents were getting closer with those electric batons.

“And you’re wearing yourself out, Osmund, can tell from your attacks getting slower.” He glared at the man before moving for him again.

\---

“There’s something in here.” Dirk looked to Farah who had managed to pull out the protective packaging on the inside to find a pair of gloves. Dirk moved to gently take them, seeing they were folded around something. He carefully opened them to see what it was only to find a small black crystal shard inside, he tilted his head while looking at it wondering if it was wrapped in the gloves for a reason. But there was something about it, a pull he wasn’t sure. He could swear he heard whispering coming from it and quickly folded the glove back over it.

“I think it’s part of the crystal we’re looking for...” Dirk suddenly didn’t know how he was feeling about the crystal. But was getting the feeling they definitely shouldn’t touch it as they carefully got it back into the box. The three of them turning when they could hear groaning and quickly heading to leave the store and head back towards the Suburban. “How do we get back into contact with Priest? What if he needs help?” Dirk finally asked as they got in the car, Farah was taking in a deep breath as she started the Suburban up and started to drive.

“He made it back to the motel just fine last time.” Todd finally stated, Dirk bit his lip while looking to the box in his hand before looking back to the business card.

“I don’t feel right just leaving him again...” Dirk said under his breath, Farah was nodding her head this time as she gripped the wheel.

“I agree with Dirk, we might not like him, but he’s done his forced job well recently. Besides, what if something happens and he isn’t able to get back to the motel? We don’t know what Blackwing plans on doing to him if they actually do manage to capture him.” Farah explained, Dirk nodded in agreement as he looked over to Todd who took in a deep breath.

“Fine, I guess we’ll look for him.” The man crossing his arms over his chest, giving a soft sigh as Dirk leaned over and kissed him on the cheek.

“Thank you, Todd.” He smiled and got a small groan out of the man who very clearly wasn’t happy he was agreeing to this at all.

\---

Priest had been paying more attention to what Calitri was doing now. How the man spent most of his time dodging or redirecting attacks rather than actually going in for damage. It was easily clicking in Priest’s head the man was doing this on purpose, that he was working on wearing him down as those other agents would randomly move closer. And they did it on a cue too, every time attacks broke away which happened more and more frequently from the fact Priest was getting tired. Calitri would motion to them and his area of escape kept growing smaller till it reached the point any possible attempt to back track would lead him in the hands of other agents. He was working on controlling his breathing, not wanting to show he was getting as tired as he felt as he found himself closer to the wall at the end of the alley, back to it and facing the man who just stared at him. Fixing his suit which was cut in some places, but hadn’t been able to land a good hit and stagger the man.

“How much longer do you plan to fight the inevitable, Osmund?” He hated that smug tone of his, the little smile that played on his lips as he took in a deep breath. Figured he gave them enough time, that Dirk got what he needed to get. But he didn’t want to just give up either and he wasn’t necessarily sure how to get out of this. In frustration he threw the knife right at the man, watching him side step and casually glancing behind him. Dusting off his shoulder as he saw the agent behind him falling to the ground with the knife sticking out of his throat. “Now, that was just rude.” The man turned back to face him, and Priest gave him an amused smile as Calitri moved back in for an attack. 

This time actually taking a swing at him. Priest blocked it with his forearm and kicked him, aiming right for his gut only for the man to step to the side and trap his leg between his arm and the side of his body. Priest shifted when he pulled up on it, actually moving a hand to catch himself on the wall so he wouldn’t lose balance. He shoved himself off the wall and went to punch him only for Calitri to pull a knife out of his boot and stab it into his thigh, twisting it as he let go and stepped away. Priest couldn’t stop his cry in pain as he immediately stumbled to the side and fell on his knees. Wincing as he moved his hands to his thigh to look at the knife with a bit of shock. Wasn’t actually expecting him to-

“You have multiple other nonlethal areas I can stab you. Question is, how badly do you want to be injured when we bring you in?” The man asked, crossing his hands behind his back as he walked around him. Priest grit his teeth as he looked up at the man, hand moving to the hilt of the knife in his leg, grabbing it and pulling it out with a pained cry.

“Ohhh, I’m goin’ ta enjoy killin’ you, boy.” He snapped while forcing himself back up to his feet.

\---

“There!” Dirk was pointing down an alley where he could see two Blackwing soldiers standing guard. The two of them randomly looking to see what was going on around the corner. Farah parked the car and turned to look at them as Dirk moved to grab the door and try to get out. He blinked when Todd caught him by the jacket and pulled him back.

“Dirk, wait, you can’t go in there.”

“But what if he needs help?” Dirk asked with a worried expression on his face. Farah was shifting and opening the door now.

“You two stay here, get ready to drive.” Dirk moved to climb into the front seat, knowing that honestly between all of them he was the speedy and reckless driver and could easily give Blackwing a run for their money.

“Please be careful, Farah.” Dirk said with a small frown on his face as she nodded and headed towards the opening of the alleyway to go find Priest. Which still was going to always be bizarre to him that they not only were working with the man, but now they were in the middle of ’Operation Save Priest.’ He couldn’t stop himself from giving a little snort at the thought only getting Todd’s attention as he moved to open the back door and stand outside to get ready to help if he needed to.

“What are you laughing about?” Todd asked with an amused smile, the man looking at him through the open window. Dirk shifted as he moved his hand to rest it on the gear shift to get ready to move the car from Park to Drive when they showed up.

“It’s just amusing to me that we’re saving a man who made my life miserable.” He stated with a small smile, getting a heavy sigh from Todd who obviously didn’t agree with this plan or what they were doing.

\---

Priest glanced at his hand which was giving him a warning throb, the surge of pain enough to make him actually drop the knife he was using to attack Calitri with. The man blinking in surprise before smiling and using his obvious distraction to hit him across the face, and kicked him where he stabbed him all in one go. He yelped from that, dropping back to his knees from the surging pain in his leg as he fell. One eye closed tight as he moved his hand to his face which was now bleeding profusely. His other eye blurred with tears from the burning nerves in his nose, he spit the blood out of his mouth while looking to his hand which was twitching in pain. Obviously telling him he needed to get back to the trio.

“That looks painful.” Priest moved when Calitri went to kick him. Forcing himself to his feet as he stepped on the knife and kicked it behind him. Taking another step back and grunting when he backed himself into the wall, hand moving to pull out the revolver he had hidden on his hip. Drawing it and aiming right for the man.

“Play time’s over.” He watched as the man easily stepped back into the other agents. Opening fire on them with a grunt taking down six before the gun was empty and they moved in. He side stepped someone taking a swing at him with the baton and yelped when another one got him in the side. The current rushing through his body and dropping him instantly, he moved his hand to grab for an extra clip for his handgun only to have it kicked out of his hand. He closed his eyes from a baton being shoved painfully into his shoulder, just waiting for it only to hear another scuffle from down the alley. Heard gunshots, could see the agents looking behind them. Could see Calitri pulling out a gun from under his suit jacket, aiming it down the alley with obvious focus. His hand burned from the sight and he quickly grabbed the baton digging into his shoulder.

Ripping it out of the agent's hand and smashing him hard enough in the knee from the sound he knew he broke it. Listening to them scream as he forced himself up, using the baton to block some attacks while shoving through them. He threw the baton hard hitting Calitri in the hand and watching it knock the gun out of his hand right as he took the shot. The man looking at him with irritation as he saw Farah come out of the alley with her gun raised and aimed right at him. Calitri looked annoyed as he raised his hands half up in surrender. Priest stumbled forwards, hand resting on his thigh which was surging with pain.

“Let me just kill him-”

“No. Get in the car.” He gave an annoyed groan, heading down the alleyway as Farah kept her gun trained on Calitri, walking backwards as Priest stopped momentarily to pick a new machine gun up off one of the Agents Farah took down. He glanced back when he heard Farah take a shot, sighing in disappointment when she only shot at the man’s feet when he obviously tried to walk forwards.

“This isn’t over, Osmund! I’ll get you eventually.” The man sounded so fucking confident he wanted to punch his teeth out. He limped back to the Suburban, getting inside as Todd ran around to jump in the passenger’s seat. Farah was quick to get in and Dirk took off before the door even shut, Priest winced while holding his thigh and shifting in the seat trying to get comfortable. He glanced out the back window and gave a small grunt when he saw Calitri standing out of the alley obviously taking down their car information.

“We need to ditch the car.” Priest stated while leaning his head back, he could just feel the blood running down his face from the hit he took. Kind of was starting to feel light headed and had a ringing sound in his ears from the fact he was losing a lot of blood from both his thigh and his face. He could feel his head starting to lull to the side, feeling exhausted. He was snapped out of it by Farah putting pressure on his leg, he couldn’t stop the cry in pain as he moved his hand. Wanting to shove her off only for the woman to shove his hands down.

“We need to stop your bleeding.” He glanced down to see how bad it was, knew the wound was aggravated from how much he kept moving, from Calitri getting lucky and kicking it. Knew the wound definitely tore from that. He found himself tuning in and out of the drive, which was surprisingly fast to get back to the hotel. He blinked when he was helped out of the car, Farah keeping him steady on his injured side, and Todd on the other. He found himself leaning more on Farah as his leg protested with each step, feeling clumsy as he almost tripped a couple times from eventually just dragging that foot. Only to have Todd and Farah straining with effort to keep from all of them falling, getting into the motel he was actually brought to the bathroom and rather unceremoniously thrown in the tub. He could feel Farah cutting at his pants by his thigh getting the cloth out of the way. Could hear their rushed voices as the other two passed off the supplies she was asking for.

He didn’t really want to pass out right now. He could do this for them so they wouldn’t have to worry about it. It would be easy...

Just wished it wasn’t so hard to keep his eyes open.

\---

“He’s still alive right?” Dirk asked in concern when Priest’s eyes closed and he slumped down in the tub, Farah was looking over the wound, having Todd hold a flashlight from his phone to it given the motel lighting wasn’t very good. Meanwhile he knelt next to her holding a rag to the man’s face trying to stop the bleeding.

“Yes, Dirk, he’s still alive I’m sure the over exertion plus the blood loss was enough to knock him out. Just make sure you’re not smothering him with the rag.” Dirk scoffed while quickly double checking to make sure he was in fact not smothering the man. Seeing he was still able to breathe out of his mouth he went back to what he was doing.

“He can breathe... it’s fine... maybe... Should we take him to a hospital or something?” Dirk asked while arching a brow, looking to Farah who was cleaning the wound before getting a needle and thread ready from the first aid kit to sew the wound shut. Dirk looked away when she noticed she was actually sewing the  _inside_  of the wound right now rather than the opening.

“He can’t go to the hospital Dirk, he’s wanted.” Todd said and Dirk sighed to himself.

“Right... that... that does pose a problem.” He muttered while moving the towel and looking back to the man’s face. He actually looked peaceful in his sleep... you know... despite the fact he was covered in his own blood. “You know, it's kind of interesting to see he’s actually human and apparently beatable.” There was a long pause and he noticed Farah looking at him before going back to what she was doing. Like she was thinking something, and Dirk couldn’t help but feel horrible to the thought that popped in his head as he looked from the man’s face over to Farah. “Maybe we should have let him do it his way and we could have avoided this...”

“He still killed people, Dirk.” Farah stated in obvious annoyance.

“Yes, but  _some_  people. You know I wasn’t joking when I said he  _kills_  people. And when I say kills people I mean everyone that stands in his way. I have seen my fair share of horrors of how little disregard he has for human life. If he was actually doing things his way he would have killed everyone.” He explained, even if it made him sick, even if it made him feel guilty. But really what were they protecting now that he thought of it? People who worked for a cruel, evil, agency that spent their time kidnapping and torturing poor scared and confused people who have these abilities no one understands. He took in a deep breath through his nose and blinked when Todd reached over and touched his arm. “I’m sorry, that’s horrible to say, I know that is. I shouldn’t have said it, I’m proud of him for not killing everyone.” He finally stated feeling so guilty about not just having that thought but voicing it.

“I know they’re bad people, Dirk, but sometimes there just people following orders to make a living.” Dirk leaned forwards from that, frowning as he looked to the rag which wasn’t filling up with blood anymore. It honestly just made him think of Lieutenant Assitent, remembering how he was just as scared as he was as they moved through Blackwing to try and get to Francis. He really hoped he was okay and he managed to get out of Blackwing during the supposed take down. “This would be so much easier if I had the right tools for this...” Farah muttered under her breath. Dirk quickly sat up and looked over to Todd.

“Todd, be a dear and hold this for me.” The man looked less than pleased but moved to take his spot Farah pausing momentarily to wait for Todd to bring the light back. Dirk ran out into the opening of the motel room. Looking around and searching under furniture and in closets before standing up straight with a heavy sigh and scratching his head. “Mona, we could really use your help right now.” He turned when he heard a small giggle behind him. Smiling as he looked to his friend who was rocking on her heels while looking towards the bathroom.

“What do you need, Dirk?” She tilted her head and smiled at him, he walked over and took both of her hands into his.

“I need you to be really brave for me and help Farah out with taking care of Mr. Priest.” She tilted her head before leaning in lowering her voice and glancing towards the bathroom.

“Why do I need to be brave to help my friend?” She even giggled, and Dirk found himself shocked by that as he even took a step back. Looking at her as she walked over to the bathroom with a little hum, he slowly followed after and watched as Farah leaned back to look at her. “How can I help?”

“Mona, when you turn into people... you like tun  _into_  them, right? Like knowledge, thoughts, and everything like that?” Farah asked Mona rocked on her feet and gave a small noise while looking rather deep in thought.

“Yes, I become what I turn into... Sometimes I forget how to be me, though.” She said meekly while pressing her index fingers together, chin tucked and swaying slightly to make her dress spin. Dirk looked from Mona over to Farah before back again when Mona stepped closer. A frown on her face and Dirk watched he assess the damage done to the man in the tub. “Oh no, what happened to him?” She was tilting her head with worry, and honestly Dirk found himself perplexed by this reaction. He figured she would be on the same boat as him regarding Priest and feelings towards him.

“Mona, I have a very big job for you. I need you to turn into a top ER doctor and help him. Do you think you can do that for me?” She asked, oh that was brilliant, Mona just smiled at her and nodded her head.

“Yes, I can do that.” She informed and then morphed in front of them into a woman in scrubs holding her hands up with her obviously fresh clean gloves. 

\---

Priest had been staring at the blue galaxy above him for a while, just lying there no longer in pain and feeling a little floaty as he waited for whatever Hugo wanted to present itself. He just hoped that the others knew how to care for him in his current state back in the real world. He finally forced himself to sit up and looked over to Hugo who was standing with his hands crossed behind his back staring up at the galaxy almost like he was looking for something. Priest got up and slowly walked over to stand next to the man, arms crossed over his chest as he looked up at the galaxy. But it just looked like nonsense to him, he slowly looked back to Hugo who was frowning while turning to look at him.

“What are you even looking at?” Priest asked with a resigned groan, he could see Hugo smiling out of the corner of his eye.

“This is like... everything.” He felt like he had told him before but that still didn’t tell him anything and he was getting tired of all this cryptic bullshit. He was getting tired of everything right now, he just wanted things to go back to normal. He wanted all of this to be some weird dream while he was actually in a coma in Blackwing from falling off the roof and that he never actually made a deal and none of this was real. He took in a deep breath and slowly let it out, trying to calm down.

“You’re the universe, right?” He finally asked, could see Hugo turn his head to look at him, pursing his lips together and tilting his head side to side trying to think of how to explain it. Priest could see the gears turning in the boy’s head before he rubbed his eyes, not having time for this right now. “Can you just like... take me back in time or something before my mission of chasing after Incubus and warn me not to go an’ fight them on a roof top?” Hugo ended up just smiling at that.

“Mr. Priest... I’m not taking you back in time so you can go back to like... not doing what the universe like wants? That’s kind of like the whole reason I branded you-”

“I want to take it back! I would rather be dead then deal with this bullshit anymore!” He snapped the words, he could see a look of concern on the man’s face. A flicker of it that was making him angry to see it. “Don’t give me that look!” He snapped and Hugo just sighed while looking away towards the galaxy. Just staring up at it, he wasn’t satisfied with that though. He wanted Hugo to take branding him back. He wanted his life back. He just... he hated this, he hated everything about this. “Hugo. Just answer me, there has to be a way to take this back. There has to be a way to fix everything-”

“Mr. Priest, nothing is broken right now... well like, okay that’s not true, there’s a lot that broken right now. But I mean like with you. Like, uhm everything’s fine-” He grabbed the man by the shirt and yanked him closer, leaning in and getting in his face.

“I'm bleeding out in a goddamn  _bathtub_.” He snapped the words getting a heavy sigh from the man who looked like he was about to say something. But then he had those tendril things he saw back in the police station wrap around him and pull him away. Practically tossing him to the side as Hugo moved to look at something with an obvious look of annoyance on his face.

“Mr. Priest... I think you were like... right?” Priest arched a brow at that while forcing himself to stand up and dusting himself off. The man just sighed and motioned to the galaxy like there was something there he should be able to see. “Like, about the fact I should have just had you, like, kill Ken when I sent you back with the gun.” Priest looked back to the galaxy then over to him with a small sigh.

“Ya know, startin to wish I just shot the bastard for ya instead of lettin’ him get away.” He grumbled the words while glaring off to the side. “And he already replaced me too, and sent the asshole to get me. That is such a low blow.” He snapped the words, a wave of emotions growing in the pit of his stomach, ones he had been trying to ignore since the little break down he had of throwing the table full of his guns. The anger, the hatred, the sorrow, the depression. He found himself suddenly feeling void of emotions as he stared out at nothing. Blinking when Hugo grabbed him by his shirt and tugged on it to get his attention.

“You okay, Mr. Priest?” He laughed from the question. Just kept laughing before pulling away from him and staring off into the nothingness that was behind him. Hand moving to rub his face.

“Am I okay? Yeah, I'm great. Why do you ask Hugo?” He wasn’t though, he still felt so emotionally raw. He grunted when he felt the man hug him from behind. Looking down as he felt the boy’s arms wrap around him. He just stared at them before looking back ahead. “I lost the only thing I ever loved. Not only that but you made me destroy it with my own hands.” He looked down at them, eyes narrowing at the brand. “And then you sent me on this fool’s errand to help Dirk, Todd, and Farah. All of whom are completely irrational and frustrating to the point I’m currently bleeding out in a tub because they wanted to actually  _spare_  Blackwing soldiers. They’re soft, and they’re weak and they’re going to get me killed. And now I have my replacement on my heels and I know that asshole is not going to back down till he has me captured... Or killed honestly.”

“Hey. Mr. Priest... it’s like okay to like... uh... be down about your current situation. You don’t have to like try to ignore that.” Priest moved grabbing Hugo’s hand yanking on it to get the boy stumbling and standing in front of him with a surprised look on his face.

“You’re the one that put me in this current situation!” He snapped in his face.

“But like... it’s better this way you know-” He yanked on his shirt again, stepping closer, getting in his face as he grit his teeth.

“How is it better!?” Hugo just tilted his head to the side looking passed him towards the galaxy then looking back into his face. “Just tell me how this is better, Hugo! I’m getting tired of your cryptic game bullshit!”

“Mr. Priest... If you kept like... if you kept like doing what you were doing. And like helping Ken you would have put the whole like... Universe in danger-”

“What makes you think I care!? Why would I care about that? Why would I care about how many people I could have killed or hurt or what-the-fuck-ever else would have happened if I continued to do the only thing I ever loved, needed, and wanted?” He snapped the words in his face. “You know, that place was my  _home_. It was somewhere I finally belonged and didn’t feel like I was just following the same boring motions over and over and over again. I was happy, and I lost it for sixteen years and then it was  _mine_  again. And now...” He trailed off.

“You’re needed for this-”

“Why don’t you understand! I lost everything!” He snapped, he could feel his throat tighten, he could feel the tears in his eyes from that as he grabbed Hugo’s shirt and shook him. Slowly falling on his knees as he stared at the ground, feeling a tightness in his chest that was threatening to overflow. “I lost everything...” 

There was a weird jolt, like a pull that yanked him out of where he currently stood next to Hugo back into reality. He sat up with a feeling of surprise, feeling in danger as he tried to get up only for someone to be shoving him back down. He could hear voices but his mind couldn’t place what was happening, everything was moving so fast he felt dizzy and sick. There was a noise in his ear that sounded like screaming and from how sore his throat felt he supposed that was him. He fought harder against whoever was holding him down, trying to get free, to get away from the pain in his leg that was making him feel sick along with the smell of burning flesh.

“Mr. Priest!” He found himself slowly blinking back into reality, looking to see Dirk standing by his head. Could see his hand fisting the boy’s shirt from trying to shove him away. “Mr. Priest, please. Please calm down, it’s okay.” He was trying to sound reassuring and Priest shifted turning to look down towards his thigh, could see someone he didn’t recognize standing there dressed like a surgeon. He blinked a few times before forcing himself to sit up, about to  _yell_  at them for taking him to the hospital before he realized he was still in the motel. He just felt confused, and in pain, and angry as he tried to get up only for all of them to shove him back down. “Please, stop moving!” Dirk insisted, he shoved the boy back. Could hear him stumble and trip over something and suddenly there was a burning pain in his hand causing him to cry out as he moved to grab it. Pulling his hands close to his chest as he arched his back off the bed he was laying on, squirming and rolling over on his side trying to shove himself up.

“Priest!” He looked to Farah who was holding her hands out to him. “Please, just breathe, everything’s okay, we have everything under control. Here, we found these in your medical supplies.” Showing him the pill bottle.

“Who... whoz’at-” Voice slurred from the pain and exhaustion as he motioned to the surgeon who turned into Mona before his eyes. He narrowed them on her and blinked when she actually jumped forwards and hugged him. “Ow, ow-”

“Hi Mr. Priest!” He grunted laying on his back, hand moving to gently pat the girls back with a small annoyed groan. Wishing people would  _stop_ hugging him. “Oh, I’m sorry, I should be careful, huh?” Whispering the end part like it was a secret. She was leaning back and tilting her head at him.

“That would be nice, Sweetheart.” Priest leaned back and couldn’t stop his laugh from that while forcing himself to sit up. Watching the others to make sure they wouldn’t try to push him down again, Dirk was dusting himself off and holding his arm which he must have hurt when he shoved him.

“Okay, can I just ask one thing?” They all looked to Dirk who slowly motioned between Priest and Mona. “What the _hell_!?”


	7. That's not Good

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things go from bad to great to terrible for the Scooby Gang. In other news, Dirk feels he’s so much closer to solving the case, they just need to figure out how to avoid situations that lead to Priest sacrificing his freedom to save them...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Characters** : Osmund Priest. Dirk Gently. Todd Brotzman. Farah Black. Mona Wilder. Hugo Friedkin. Ken Adams.  
>  **Warnings** : Mental Abuse. Physical Abuse. Burning. Murder. Attempted Murder. Small Torture scene which involves playing with an open wound and then mean things to an already existing burn. POV change  
>  **Note** : So... Calitri is an asshole??

“Mr. Priest is my friend.” Priest glanced up at her when the girl even took his hand in hers and gently swayed it. She even leaned in towards Dirk and lowered her voice into a whisper, “He kept the scary men away while they were doing those tests.” Giggling now while standing up right, Priest was in the middle of sitting up while they talked, moving to look at his thigh to check the care that was given it, rather worried they just cauterized it shut from the intense pain that dragged him out of that dream world Hugo took him to. But it looked fine, there was a nice bandage there, and he moved his hand to touch over it feeling a drain in place so he could properly clean it when he needed to. Then what did they burn- he winced from a sudden pain he felt higher on his leg. Moving the blanket to see a spot that was definitely cauterized, curious when he received a wound there. He supposed he probably didn’t notice it from the adrenaline of the fight, but it actually looked like a graze from a bullet. Did someone actually shoot at him with a real gun? He felt lost in thought he didn’t notice was what going on till Farah’s hand appeared in front of his face holding out pills he recognized as pain killers and antibiotics.

“Thanks.” He took them and popped them in his mouth, swallowing them down while looking to Mona who was still holding his hand. “Hey, Sweetheart?” Squeezing her hand to get her attention, she smiled while turning to look at him. “Can I talk to my Doctor really quick?” He asked in a soft tone. “I promise you don’t have to stay like that too long.” Adding that on given he knew she didn’t like to be people and much preferred to be objects. She nodded her head and let go of his hand and nodded while changing back into the surgeon who pulled the mask off her face. “Aside from the drain stitch, and the new burn, what all do I have to look forwards to?”

“I reset your nose, and made a tighter hold which should hopefully help the cartilage heal together, if it doesn’t I would really suggest-”

“Yeah, yeah, doesn’t matter. You can change back now Sweetheart, thank you.” He was pulling the blanket off and working on turning to stand up only for Farah to stop him from even trying as Mona changed back.

“Did I help, Mr. Priest?” Mona asked while peering over Farah’s shoulder.

“Yes, you did a very good job,” He scooted to the side, eyes narrowing at Farah who sighed from him being stubborn about trying to get up. “If you want, there’s some candy in my bag over there, help yourself.” She smiled and even bounced on her toes before saying a thank you and walking away. “Can I get up now? We need to ditch the truck-”

“Mr. Priest, you need to lay down and rest, you can’t just keep going with a wound like this-”

“It’s fine.” Priest insisted only for Farah to not move from in front of him, he sighed heavily from her persistence. “Will you just-”

“You can’t help us if you hurt yourself anymore. Hey, Hugo! If you can hear me don’t let Priest out of the bed.” He rolled his eyes, doubting that would even work... it better not work anyway... otherwise he was going to have to hurt Hugo for listening to them. They were all being ridiculous and irrational and- “I’m going to ditch the car. You better stay put, call me if he does anything.” She stated the last part over to Todd and Dirk who looked a little shocked as she headed to the door.

“Wait, you’re leaving him alone with us?” Todd asked, obviously confrontational. Priest rolled his eyes planting his feet on the floor about to stand only for his brand to go off. He yelped and held his hand close to him as he sat back down. Staring at his hand with wide eyes before looking up at the ceiling.

“You have got to be kidding me! Hugo!” Shouted in outrage.

“There, see, he can’t even leave the bed.” Priest glared at her, gritting his teeth as he scooted back on the bed with a grumble and crossed his arms over his chest. This was so fucking stupid. “I’ll be back before you know it.” She reassured before walking out the door, Priest groaned while moving to check on the rather nasty bruise on his shoulder by tugging his sleeve up. Eyes finally shifting when he heard movement next to him and he felt a little less angry when Mona held out a kitkat for him.

“Thank you, Sweetheart.” She smiled before turning into that nervous Pete doll she liked so much, opening the wrapper to the candy he was given as he watched Dirk walk over to pick up Mona. Carrying her away and setting her down before he walked back over to him, looking upset now as Priest just took a bite out of the candy bar.

“You are  _friends_?” He sounded so distrusting and Priest shrugged, small smile pulling across his face.

“We were friends once too, remember?” He mused the words watching as Dirk crossed his arms and leaned in with obvious irritation.

“And then you started to beat me and broke my arm that one time!” Priest tilted his head from that finishing the candy he was given and dropping the wrapper on the night stand next to him before crossing his arms over his chest.

“Got you to do what I told you now didn’t it?” Dirk looked so upset from those words, turning his head away with tears building in his eyes as he rubbed his arm. Priest rolled his eyes when Todd stepped forwards, still as confrontational as ever.

“Stop doing that.” He rolled his eyes as he shifted on the bed, legs feeling restless already and he hadn’t even been laying down for very long... Well sitting down, he supposed...

“He brought it up. Besides,” He shrugged while glancing towards where Mona wondering if she was close enough to hear them or not. “Why on earth would I want to piss off a  _shapeshifter_?”

“God, you’re pathetic!” Todd snapped and Priest slowly let his eyes fall on the boy with a blank expression before arching a brow at him. “You hurt defenseless kids who can’t do anything about it but when it comes to people that can actually stand up to you, you chicken out!” Todd sounded so angry even stepping closer, Priest couldn’t stop the amused smile that came across his face while tilting his head.

“I like to look at all my options, befriending the ‘actress’ and the ‘assassin’ and a few others seemed like the best choice in case anythin’ bad happens. And would you look at that, the actress took care of my wounds.” Musing the words out, grin crossing his face when Todd grabbed him by the shirt and got in his face.

“You’re a sociopathic  _coward_.” Priest couldn’t stop his grin as he started to focus his mind on Todd. Focus on Todd, ignore the pain. He grabbed him by the shirt, rolling over and yanking the boy easily on the bed unintentionally more or less throwing the boy on it from how much lighter he was then he was expecting. He could feel the burning pain as he caught Todd’s fighting hands while getting on top of him. Focusing on the boy more than his own body, taking deep breaths and thinking of the annoying torture training he went through. Skills learned and adapted just in case he ever got caught and tortured for information about Blackwing. 

He could hear Dirk somewhere over the ringing in his ears as he managed to pin Todd’s hands down above his head with one of his own. He could feel the burning pain spreading through his body causing sweat to bead on his forehead and his back from the pain as he curled his free hand into a fist and punched the little shit hard across the face. The second he made contact the pain multiplied tenfold. He yelped, pulling away from him and grabbed his hand as he could feel his skin blistering and splitting open in spots as he fell on the bed with a silent scream in pain. The pain so intense his vision waivered immediately, tears pouring from his eyes as he scratched and clawed at the arm just tearing his skin open more.

“Fu-fuck! Cut it off—just cut it off!” He didn’t have anything to do it himself, he ended up writhing to the point he fell off the bed and could only even register the pain and nothing else that was going on in the room. His eyes were closed tight as he choked on the stomach acid burning his throat, he felt like his hand was melting as the muscles seized. Pain too intense for him to actually lose consciousness, but he wanted to so  _badly_ in that moment. Though as his vision continued to waiver he found the pain coming in and out in throbs. Making him question if maybe he did black out as he laid there on the floor panting and holding his arm. Tears still in his eyes as he stared out at nothing, waiting for it all to end. He blinked when he saw someone standing above him, trying to blink his eyes into focus as he let his eyes travel up to see Farah standing there with a look of annoyance and disappointment on her face.

“You broke Todd’s nose.”  _That was it?_  That was all he did for the type of pain Hugo just put him through? He swallowed, throat feeling sore in dry making him wonder how much he ended up screaming. He closed his eyes from the massive headache he found himself having, not even wanting to look at his arm which hurt like it had actually been burned.

“He’ll... he’ll live.” Priest stated weakly, shifting to slowly roll over, the throbbing in his leg feeling like absolutely nothing after that. He forced himself up onto his knees and finally looked down at his arm. Looking at where the skin had split open and was bleeding, blood soaked into his shirt and into the carpet from where he was laying. He could see signs of third degree burn on the back of his hand, wincing when he pulled his hand slowly away from his arm to see where he scratched and clawed nice gouges into his arm.

“You can’t just attack-”

“He started it, and I was finishin’ it, not my fault he can’t take what he dishes out!” He snapped the words up at her, getting a small impatient sigh from the woman who was looking at his arm. “Good news for all of y’all though, definitely not doin that again.” He muttered under his breath as he finally forced himself up to sit on the edge of the bed. “You mind getting me the med-” She kicked the kit that was by her feet and he stared at it for a moment about to grab it till she put her foot on it.

“Get back in the bed.” He grunted and glared at her but finally did as told, sitting back on the bed as she grabbed the kit and set it down before sitting on the edge of the bed next to him. Putting on medical gloves before holding out her hand he reluctantly held his arm out to her. Watching as she showed him the wet wash cloth she had before she set to work cleaning his arm up. He winced and clenched his hand into a fist when she went over the random blisters and burns to clean them. Glancing down with irritation when his skin more or less came off on the rag in the badly burned spots. “Given the array of medical supplies you have, I’m assuming you have things for burns?” She asked, sounding oddly calm as she looked up at him.

“Left pouch is a burn trauma kit.” He stated while closing his eyes and clenching his jaw from the rag going over his hand. He pulled to get it away from her from how much that  _hurt_.

“Sorry... but I have to clean it.” She stated he grumbled while slowly giving his hand back to her. “I take it you had no idea what Hugo did to you could do this?”

“Figured it would stick to intense nerve pain, never actually expected it to go beyond that.” Which his nerves still felt like they were on fire, lingering burning sensations running through his entire body. He slowly glanced up curious where Todd and Dirk even were till he noticed the door to the bedroom was shut.

“Dirk said you didn’t even react to the pain till you actually hit him.” Priest grunted while watching her get bandages for the cuts and gouges, slowly putting them on there before digging in the bag for the burn kit.

“Yeah... Workin for the type of agency I did they give ya torture trainin’ and teach ya how to put your mind outside your body. Figured I would put it to good use... ya know, until Hugo clearly put me back in and did this bullshit.” He watched as she changed her gloves and started to apply the burn cream to his injuries, wincing from the feeling of it till it started to numb and chill the areas. She slowly looked up to him while taking off the gloves and putting everything away, throwing the gloves and the rag into the trash.

“Well, since you have proved we still can’t trust you.” He watched as she pulled a pair of cuffs out, slapping them around his wrist of his uninjured arm.

“Are you serious-” He tried to pull his arm away from her, accidentally pulling it right where she wanted it, as she attached the other side to the headboard. 

“We will have to keep you chained up when we’re not working.” He stared at his cuffed arm and clenched his hand into a fist before glaring at her as she left the room. Shutting the door behind her, he flopped on his back on the bed and stared up at the ceiling with an annoyed groan.

\---

“All I’m saying is maybe you should stop trying to fight with him all the time. Like I appreciate it, I really do, but I don’t want him to hurt you. I can’t... I can’t handle that-” 

“I’m fine Dirk.” Dirk was just sitting in front of Todd, they had finally got his nose to stop bleeding, and the man was already getting heavy black eyes. 

“This time... This time you’re fine, what if he does something worse next time, you don’t understand-” Todd had moved his hands to catch his, leaning forwards to press their foreheads together.

“I love you.” He stated. “And I won’t sit back while he purposefully hurts you just because he’s bored or whatever.” Dirk bit his bottom lip, tears welling a bit in his eyes.

“I love you too. But I don’t want to watch him hurt you. It’s hard enough watching him kill people and being brought back to my childhood... but I... I don’t want you to be another person he kills.” He tried to stop himself from crying while moving his hands to cup the man’s face, leaving him a gentle kiss on his forehead and under each eye before kissing him on the lips. Head tilted to make sure that he wouldn’t accidentally bump the man’s nose. “Please just... at least stay out of grabbing range? For me?” Begging tone in his voice as Todd took in a deep breath.

“Yeah... okay.” He gave him one last quick kiss on the lips.

“Thank you, Todd.” They both glanced up when Farah had come out of the room, Dirk’s hands slowly slid off Todd’s face as he rested his hands on his boyfriend’s knees. “So-so how’s our big bad protector doing?” He asked nervously as Farah sighed and sat down on the couch next to Todd, leaning her head back and just looking exhausted.

“He’ll live... and who started the fight?” She finally asked already looking towards Todd like she knew he was the one that turned it into a physical confrontation.

“He was saying mean crap to Dirk, I was trying to get him to stop.” Farah was sitting forwards now and resting her elbows on her knees. Looking at him with that look she usually gave when she wanted more. Pointed, and patient, yet awfully mothering and intimidating that had Dirk shifting on his spot from the coffee table.

“He uhmm... He said we were friends once.” He turned his head away and rubbed the back of his neck, could see Farah turning to look at Todd with an unimpressed look on her face.

“Todd, I understand that you’re not happy with this situation. None of us are happy with this situation, but you can’t just go picking fights with him every time he says something or we’ll never get anything done.” Dirk slowly looked back at them seeing Todd was sitting up straighter and looking at her with disbelief.

“He’s an asshole who doesn’t even want to be here, I’m not going to just let him get away with saying things like that that hurt our friend.”

“You don’t have to start fights because of it either. I get wanting to protect Dirk, I do, I want to too, but starting fights isn’t the way to do that. We just have to keep working, we can try to stay away from him the best we can. But please,  _please_ , no more fighting?” She was begging now and Todd took in a deep breath through his mouth before flopping back down on the couch.

“Fine.”

“Thank you.” Dirk shifted and stood up.

“I think we should call Cosima.” He finally stated to break the silence in the room as he pulled her card out of his pocket and looked it over. “She should be able to fill us in on something at least?” Farah slowly nodded and Dirk pulled out his cellphone, sitting back down as he dialed the number on the card and put it on speaker.

_\--”Hello_ _, you’ve reached_ _Cosima’s_ _Holistic_ _Retrival_ _Service, this is_ _Cosima_ _speaking, what can I get for you?”_  Dirk was shifting a bit in excitement from the term Holistic used in her answer as he smiled up at Todd and Farah before looking back down to the phone.

“Hello, Cosima! This is Dirk Gently-”

_\--”Oh_ _fuck, what the hell do you guys want?”_  She sounded less enthused now, and just sounded annoyed.

“We really need to find that crystal, I was hoping you would have more information for us regarding its currently location?” He asked waiting patiently as they listened to movement on the other line.

_\--”Look_ _, Detective-”_

“Holistic Detective.”

_\--”Whatever_ _, I’m not telling you anything about my current job, until I get paid it’s not done yet and I don’t want to_ _compromise_ _my current Clients privacy rights. So, why don’t you leave me alone.”_

“Cosima, this is Farah, although I appreciate your business ethics, we do actually have a piece of the crystal, so you cannot fully complete your job anyway. Now, tell us where the rest of the crystal is.” There was a long pause before she started to laugh on the other line, laughing for a long time now before she worked on catching her breath.

_\--”You_ _all the reason Stone in the Sky is full of CIA assholes? Or is that because of_ _scarface_ _?”_  Dirk took in a deep breath before shifting on the coffee table.

“Those agents are called Blackwing, and I’m sorry to tell you Cosima, but I actually believe they were there for you. They like to collect Holistic people and lock us up and torture us.” The line suddenly went really quiet.

_\--”Sound_ _like you have experience with that.”_

“Then Blackwing never did have you?” Dirk was looking up with excitement that this was a new project.

_\--”No._ _I dare them to try though... Alright look, Dirk, I like you. You’re funny and adorable, and so very_ _naïvely_ _hopeful it’s really cute. So, I will meet you guys on neutral ground and tell you what all I know about this Crystal. But I am not giving it to you, it’s very well hidden until I get my money, am I understood?”_

“Yes! Thank you so much!”

_\--”Uh_ _-huh, I’ll text you the address where we’re meeting.”_  Dirk was excited when she hung up and then eventually texted an address to them. Farah looked it up to find the so called ‘neutral ground’ was actually the city’s library.

“Oh... this might be a problem...” Dirk looked to where she was pointing on the phone, heart racing already when he saw the Library was apparently right next to the police station.

“Shit.” Dirk muttered under his breath while slowly glanced over to the bedroom then over to Todd and Farah while biting his lip. Knowing they should get Priest, something could happen, but at the same time the man needed rest due to his injuries... and they would be close to the Blackwing agents. Honestly this ‘neutral ground’ felt very hostile and like some sort of test. He wasn’t so sure he liked Cosima very much right now as he sighed in defeat. “We can’t leave him here.”

“We can’t take him either.” Todd insisted, Dirk leaned forwards and rubbed his face as Farah stood up.

“We have to take him.” She stated and Todd actually groaned from the question while slouching down on the couch. Farah, however, was ignoring the protest and already heading into the bedroom. Dirk watched as she left the door open and walked over to him, uncuffing him and he slowly got up with an amused smile on his face. The man heading out into the room to put on a pair of new jeans, finding his old ones to take everything out of the pockets and slip his belt and weapons on before pulling off his shirt to change out of that. Dirk could see the large badly bruising circles on his torso from what he was assuming rubber bullets. Had noticed the man had mainly focused on the one on his shoulder. But he had several on his body along with a large bruise on his right side by his ribcage. 

Which made him wonder if he got that from his fight as the man slid on a new shirt followed by his shoulder harness and a sleeveless leather jacket that he recognized as Martin’s. He eyed it for a moment before the man grabbed his new machine gun and they headed out of the motel. Noticing the limp in his walk now as they headed down the hall and lead Priest to the car they had been using, which was a lot smaller and not as comfortable as the Suburban was.

“So, where we off to now?” The man asked while staring out the windshield, shifting in his seat and obviously trying to get comfortable.

“Library.” Farah stated, Priest arched a brow while looking over to her before looking back out the window.

“Why the library?”

“We’re meeting Cosima there.” Dirk stated, not really wanting to let the man know she was Holistic, which sure he wasn’t working for Blackwing anymore... but he didn’t like the idea of Priest meeting a subject he’s never met or dealt with before. He didn’t want the man to get any ideas as they continued to head down towards Walden’s library. Which unfortunately was right next to the police station... Priest was already laughing while sinking down in his seat.

“This is great.” The man mused out, sounding more entertained than anything as Farah pulled into the Library parking lot and in the back so they wouldn’t be seen by the police station.

“Just try not to draw attention to yourself, Priest.” Farah stated as they all got out and Farah lead the way inside of the Library. Dirk looked around, seeing it was actually pretty empty aside from a couple teenagers on laptops at one of the tables working on some sort of... well what he assumed to be a school report. They walked through trying to find the woman. Priest stopping mid step and Dirk almost ran into him because of it the man turned his head to look towards an area before heading towards it.

“I got a feeling.” Dirk blinked from that, watching as the man headed that way, and they quickly headed after him. Dirk’s heart began pounding in his chest wondering if this was why the man was so good at hunting people down. If because his ability leads him to the other projects, which was so  _interesting_  yet so  _terrifying_ as they walked down a large isle where Cosima was sitting reading a book with a bored expression on her face. Starbucks coffee cup in hand and headphones in her ears. She glanced up at them and pulled one of her headphones out before standing up as Dirk stepped closer to her.

“So, what do you want to know?” She asked while resting a hand on her hip, cocking it to the side as she slowly took a sip out of her cup.

“Why does Mr. Host want the crystal?”

“He thinks he has rights to it because it is supposedly an item to summon their god.” Dirk looked over to Priest who started to giggle while crossing his arms over his chest.

“Told you it was a cult.” Sounded so smug that Dirk was sighing and rolling his eyes before looking back to Cosima.

“Okay... so how does The Worm Hole fit into it?” She smiled this time head tilting as she stared at him with a daring look.

“You’re the detective. You tell me.” Like she was testing him, to see if he was really a Holistic Detective, he narrowed his eyes on her while thinking through all the clues he had. Mind really lingering on her motto about the money. He rocked on his toes before clearing his throat hands moving as he formed a theory in his mind.

“You were hired by Mr. Host to get the Crystal from Cheryl. Which was an easy mark for you, some little old lady who’s practically blind and deaf. Sounded like easy money so you agreed and you went to Cheryl’s where you broke in got to her crystal collection and found the one you needed. What you weren’t expecting was that when you touched it you could feel the power surging within. You could hear the voices that echoed from the very crystal speaking to you in languages no one has ever heard before.” Languages he heard when he unwrapped the crystal from the glove. “When that happened, you panicked... no!” He smiled while motioning to her. “Not panicked, you were  _enthralled_ , because here you were holding this thing beyond your wildest dreams. This piece of  _something_ that you could never imagine even existed and you liked the feeling of it in your hands. And so you boxed it up and you left.” He stated while getting more excited and closer when she didn’t interrupt him and just held her cup down by her side. 

“You get a hold of Mr. Host, who until now lead you to believe it was just a normal ordinary crystal that he wanted. But you knew it was something more, and eventually you found out he wanted to use it to summon his god. Which made you realize it was worth  _way_  more than he was paying for it. But! He wasn’t agreeing to you bringing up the cost so broke the crystal easily and you gave him the first piece through your contact at the bakery along with a piece of a map that would lead him to you. You broke off two more pieces and had his men go out and get them along with a piece of the crystal. Each being bought for the amount he originally offered. He begged you to stop breaking it so you told him; ‘ _well if you don’t want to pay my prices I know someone who will._ ’ Which made Mr. Host frantic and actually begin to agree to it.”

“But then you brought it to the Worm Hole anyway, because you like money, and you wanted to know how many other people would be willing to pay for it. However, it wasn’t the real crystal, because you didn’t want to sell the real crystal, instead you had a replica made with the help of your unwilling assistant Brad. A boy who had connections to the Worm Hole, you threatened him to work for you and then you set your plan into motion. Unbeknownst to you that Mr. Host was also aware of what The Worm Hole did and figured you would try to sell it there.” He was pacing now in thought.

“Your plan of getting money on this fake crystal fueling you with so much life. But then you noticed Mr. Host’s men, you noticed that things were going on you weren’t prepared for. The money you were hoping to make not as much as you wanted for what felt like holding the universe in your hands. When the shooting started you knew you had to get out of there. You kept sending Mr. Host on goose chases in the meantime to keep him busy, as a type of revenge and punishment for trying to under pay you.”

“But they got smart, they found you despite the fact we had the maps, because what we didn’t know, is that they followed us from Tracey’s, so when we left. They came in, but they didn’t have the money they just demanded to know where the crystal was. And you weren’t giving it to them without payment, so they attacked you, and it was a blood bath. You managed to get out of there but before anything else could be done, like retrieving the crystal fragment you unfortunately left behind in the chaos, the CIA agents swarmed the place and you were forced to leave that piece of crystal behind. And you know now that we have it, and you’ve agreed to meet with us hoping that we were dumb enough to bring it with us.” He finished with a large smile.

“Not bad, Detective.” She sounded amused now while tilting her head. “But I’m assuming by that end statement you don’t have the crystal with you.” Dirk put his hands on his hips a large grin on his face as he looked her over.

“Nope, totally did not bring it with us.” She was nodding and finishing her coffee picking up a bag she had with her and putting it over her shoulder.

“You know, the real thing,” she opened the bag, and pulled on a pair of gloves before reaching inside. Pulling out a large wrapped up cloth, slowly unfolding it and showing them the crystal which was huge. She had to hold it in two hands, the blue galaxy like base glowing and thrumming with power he could physically feel it shaking in his bones. There were large jagged black crystals sticking out of it and obvious holes where the chunks were pulled out. But it almost looked like they would be able to slide back into place and become whole again. “It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” It was giving off a pulsing blue light. He couldn’t help but notice Priest was actually staring at it in shock as she slowly wrapped it back up. “I think I will keep it though. I don’t know you well enough to trust you.”

“We really need to give that crystal back to its original owner.” Dirk was taking a step closed, but Priest was grabbing his shoulder to stop him.

“Tell you what, Dirk, since I like you, I’ve decided I’m not going to kill you like I originally planned to today. If you can get me the other pieces of the crystal, and introduce me to the real owner. Maybe I’ll be willing to give it up.” She was putting the crystal back in the bag. Dirk could feel his heard pounding in his chest from her words though, that she was originally going to kill them. Even without them telling her where the other piece was. That was... that was terrifying honestly. “Mr. Host has three pieces of the crystal.” She informed and Dirk nodded from that.

“Okay you know... there’s one thing I can’t figure out...”

“Yeah?” She asked looking amused. 

“How did you managed to set up the rat exploding when it touched the replica?” She arched a brow while slowly holding the cup up in the palm of her hand. There was the sound of ringing crystal and a flash of color distortion around the cup and when it faded it slowly fell apart in pieces in her hand. He couldn’t help but notice the way Priest actually went tense from that as she let the garbage fall to the floor and started to walk passed them.

“Call me when you get the crystal fragments.” She mused out the words while continuing on her way.

“Hey, wait!” Todd called out and Dirk turned and watched as she stopped to look at him while arching a brow. “You’re a thief.”

“Retrieval Specialist.” She corrected with a grin.

“Whatever... Why not help us get the crystal back?”

“Are you paying me?” Dirk opened his mouth and slowly closed it and she just smiled at him, even took a step back to ruffle his hair before leaving.

“Cosima...” Dirk slowly looked to Priest who was looking over to him with a brow raised. “I have an odd question for you Darlin’.” She turned to give him her full attention. “How old are you?” She looked like she was debating actually telling them.

“Why?” She finally asked after a moment of silence as Priest took a step closer.

“Were you born in 1996?” She narrowed her eyes from that before tilting her head.

“Yeah?” She was already leaving though, and Dirk couldn’t help but notice Priest actually starting to giggle from that.

They let Farah lead the way to the car, the four of them piling in and shutting their doors as Farah took the back way out of the Library to avoid going anywhere near the police station. Dirk had been staring at Priest quizzically the whole time, wanting to know why Cosima’s age mattered, why the year she was born mattered. It seemed ridiculous to him and it was obvious Priest knew he wanted to know when the man took in a deep breath. 

“Okay... Why the fuck does her age matter?” Todd finally blurted out, he noticed Farah glancing at Priest obviously curious too and Dirk just getting even more excited from Todd blurting out what he wanted to know. He just hoped that Priest would feel obligated to let them know what was going on in his mind.

“In 1996 I was sent on a mission to bring in Project Diamond... She had these abilities that Blackwing deemed as a glitch.” He informed Dirk frowned a bit from the information, but found himself wondering what he meant by a glitch... 

“A Glitch?” Farah asked, and just Priest sighed before continuing.

“Glitches are what Blackwing considers dangerous, more dangerous than Bart and Mona.” That information was already terrifying to hear because Bart was insanely deadly, and he knew that Mona could be if she wanted to be. If being the key word. “We had a handful of them, but this one... Diamond... she could tear people apart with thin air.” Dirk thought to the coffee cup Cosima destroyed, how easily she turned it into confetti in her hand. “Diamond received her name however because of the sound of singing crystals every time she used her ability...”

“I don’t understand, Mr. Priest,” Dirk finally cut in, noticing the man glancing back at him, “if you guys already had Diamond and you got her in 1996 then why does-”

“I killed her.” Priest stated, Dirk found his stomach clenching tightly, feeling suddenly sick from the information. The Priest would actually kill a project rather than bring them in. That was completely... terrifying if he was one hundred percent honest.

“O-oh.” Was all Dirk managed to state out loud compared to all the things he would rather say. About how it was wrong for him to do something like that, that it’s not her fault Blackwing decided to declare her a glitch. She was person, probably scared of her abilities like most of the other projects he met were.

“She was dangerous, and unstoppable and she cut through people like they were butter and we never figured out how she did it.” Dirk suddenly sunk down in his seat at the information, closing his eyes just thinking to the blood-soaked sheets over lumps he could only assume were bodies they found at Stone in the Sky. “She had wrapped certain people around her finger with kind smiles and tea parties, and then ruthlessly tore other people apart in bouts of blind rage.”

“Wait, wait... Tea parties? How old was she?” Todd asked and Dirk honestly found himself not wanting to know. Would rather stay ignorantly blissful that the person he killed was an adult and not some kid...

“She was a problem we were not equipped to handle. So, I made the hard call and I cut her head off to make sure she was dead.” He stated it so coldly, and Dirk could see the little flash of sadism in his eyes, head tilted to the side like he was remembering the incident fondly. He could only imagine how horrible that scene was, he felt himself wanting to cry.

“How old was she?” Todd repeated the question with obvious growing annoyance from Priest not answering him. And Dirk found himself really wanting to know now as he shifted in his spot, looking out the back window of the car.

“She was eight.” He finally stated, could feel the obvious anger and rage from Farah and Todd as he closed his eyes. Really wishing the man didn’t tell him, that he would just leave it for them to guess on.

“You killed a child!” Todd was leaning forwards, very clearly looking for another fight.

“Yeah, yeah, Scott bit my head off for that one.” He was so dismissive and uncaring about the age of his victim, not that Dirk was surprised... He’s seen the man kill people younger than that. “But that don’t matter. Point is, here we are with someone else who has her abilities... And she was born the year I killed Diamond, meaning-”

“When we die someone else is born with our abilities.” Dirk stated, thinking it over, thinking about what Francis said how they all had jobs they needed to do to keep the universe from breaking. Meaning Diamond really should have been using her abilities for a different purpose and was ignoring that. So, Priest did what he had to do... unless that was just the lie the man was spinning and said it enough times that even he believed it. He really failed to see the man having any purpose other than being a sadistic monster. But that made him more curious about Priest’s abilities and what it was he did for the Universe... “Mr. Priest... This reminds me, what exactly is your abilities?”

“Blackwing always called me the Holistic Bounty Hunter because my abilities draw me to other projects.” That made sense, he supposed, especially with how easily he found Cosima in that giant library with a small feeling of where they needed to go. But that seemed like an almost pointless ability? “However, others refer to me as the Holistic Catalyst because more often than not, when I’m drawn to the projects it’s for a reason, which is usually to get them where they need to go by triggering events that chases them into what they need. I’m sure you noticed while I was hunting you a few times things happened that wouldn’t have had I not arrived?” Dirk closed his eyes thinking back into Bergsberg, how if he didn’t hear the man’s voice, if he didn’t fall back into a depressive state and climb in that bed only for Todd to join him... If that didn’t happen... they would have never found Wendimoor.

“Okay one more question.” He stated while leaning closer.

“Ya say one more question, but I get the feelin‘ you’re goin to ask more anyway.” He teased, causing Dirk to give a small sigh from the back. 

“If Cosima has Diamond’s abilities... how come Blackwing never found her?” The man looked deep in thought from the question, like he was really thinking it over while getting comfortable in his seat.

“Diamond was careless, she was sociopathic-”

“Look who’s talking.” Todd muttered under his breath.

“Cosima,” He was glad when Priest elected to ignore the comment to continue his thought process. “She seems smarter about what she’s doing, obviously more controlled. She knows she’s dangerous and deadly so she is brave enough to face people without weapons. But she very clearly isn’t out picking fights for the hell of it.” He mused the words out as Farah eventually pulled into a random parking lot to look through her phone to try and find where they needed to go.

“We need to find where the cult is.” She stated and Dirk watched as Priest glanced over at her.

“You know, if I had my phone I could call Monique and she could tell us exactly where to go.” He chimed in getting an annoyed groan from Farah who actually looked like she was thinking it over.

“Do you think she’s still at The Worm Hole?” Dirk asked while leaning forwards. All of them blinking when Dirk’s phone started to ring. Dirk slowly pulled his phone out of his pocket and looked at the number. “Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency, this is Dirk, how may I help you?” He sounded happy as he smiled and held his phone to his ear. 

_\--”Hi_ _, Dirk,”_  He didn’t recognize the voice, but something about it was giving him a bad feeling.  _“It took me a while to place who_ _Osmund‘_ _s little helper was.”_  His expression dropped realizing exactly who it was, he slowly pulled the phone away from his ear and put it on speaker phone so the rest of the car could hear who he could only assume was Agent Calitri.  _“But after talking with Supervisor Adams I realized it was Farah Black, now we don’t have her new number saved but we definitely have yours.”_  He swallowed hard from the words, not liking this one bit.  _“Let me have Osmund. Just turn him in to us, it would be simple and easy. From reading through your_ _file_ _I would be surprised if you actually liked the asshole. Just bring him to the station and maybe I won’t add you, Farah, and Todd to the wanted list as his accomplices.”_  He looked over to Priest who was shifting in his seat. Mouthing that he was lying.

“I’m sorry to inform you, sir, but I have no idea what it is that you are talking about? I definitely am not in the presence of whoever this Osmund character is you are referring to.” He tried to stay calm, but he was always bad at lying. He could hear an amused hum on the other end of the line, and then could hear what sounded like some clicking on a computer mouse.

_\--”Is_ _that so? Because I can see him in the front seat of your car. Smile and wave to the camera Ozzy.”_  So much amusement held in his voice, he could see Priest looking out the windshield before touching Farah’s arm and pointing out of it. Dirk followed his finger to see a camera posted on the outside of a building staring into the parking lot they were currently stopped at.  _“This is just a_ _curtesy_ _call, a chance to let you do the right thing and give him to us. Otherwise you won’t like what we will do to get our hands on him_ _.”_

“What do you want, Calitri?” Priest finally asked the annoyance obvious in his voice as Farah moved to put the car back in drive and take off.

_\--”What_ _do I want? Osmund... I want you nice and locked up..._ _how is your leg_ _doing by the way? Didn’t look so good last time we saw one another._ _”_  He looked around to make sure there weren’t any cameras around.

“Trackin’ us, huh?” Dirk closed his eyes while holding his phone out for the man to take, could hear Calitri laughing on the other end of the line.

_\--”You_ _already know the answer to that one, but I do have another purpose.”_ Dirk was looking out the windows trying to see if he could see any of Blackwing’s vehicles following them around.  _“Supervisor Adams wants to know what your current mission is, why you need to be with the Detective and his friends, and why you guys are working together. Rather odd in my opinion, after all, you were so mean to that poor boy-”_

“You can tell Ken to kiss my ass, and there’s no way in hell I'm surrendering to you.” Dirk looked up as Priest hung up the phone. Opening the bad and pulling out the sim card to throw it out the window. Farah turning down another road and hastily driving as Priest tossed out the battery. Down another road and Dirk watched with mild horror when the man threw out the phone as well. “Todd, Farah, you guys have to throw out yours too before he finds your numbers-” Dirk looked to Todd when his phone began to ring. Dirk leaned over to look at the number and frowned recognizing it as Calitri’s he slowly nodded his head and they both looked to Farah and Priest unsure what to do as Priest held his hand out to take the phone.

“Todd, give him the phone.” Farah stated and the man sighed while handing it over both of them watching as Priest discarded it the same way he did with Dirk’s. Farah reluctantly handing him her phone for the man to destroy it as well, which it began ringing the moment he took it from her. “This... complicates things.” Dirk took in a deep breath, tensing when he saw one of the black SUVs pull up on the street behind them. 

“Guys-” Farah quickly sped up, trying to outrun them only for another one to pull out in front of them.

“Shit!” Farah turned down a road, only for the ones in front to drive over a median and get back in front of them. “This is bad.” Priest grabbed his machine gun and worked on rolling down the window and leaning out of the window. Opening fire on the car in front of them, before they could even tell him not to. The man aimed for the tires, getting one and watching it spin out only for the car behind them to shoot at them. Dirk ducked down and pulled Todd down with him when the back window shattered. Farah ducked down as Priest grunted Dirk watched as the man turned to shoot at the car behind him. When Dirk peeked, he saw he was also going for the wheels.

“There’s more!” Dirk called out seeing one coming in from the side, Priest we climbing back in the window when the man ran out of bullets. Feeling for another clip to load into his machine gun.

“They’re going to box us in.” Priest stated and right on cue more vans appeared and they worked on getting all around them. Herding Farah who wasn’t able to get out of the space fast enough. Bumping against the cars before being forced into where they wanted squished between all four of them. The back one driving up right behind them and the font one slowing down to the point their bumpers were touching. Farah was getting tense as the side door of the suburban opened on Priest’s side and guns were aimed at them from the other side. The car in front slowing down even more, causing them to be forced to come to a stop. Priest was getting his machine gun ready and Farah was reaching for her own gun. Dirk felt tense when the Blackwing agents got out of the car next to them. Keeping their guns trained on Priest who was ignoring them, already aiming his gun at them for one of the soldiers to catch it and pull on it so it was aiming elsewhere. Priest moved to pull on the handle of the door before kicking hard into it. Dirk watching as he slammed them hard into the SUV. Getting out and working on fighting with the others, he could feel panic in his chest as Farah moved to try and help Priest out.

“Ah-” Dirk squeaked when he felt something grab him by the back of the jacket.

“Hey! Let go of him!” Todd was trying to grab him but his mystery attacker kicked Todd hard in the face knocking him back down. Dirk glanced up to see Roscoe standing on the trunk of the car, grin on his face. Dirk flailed and tried to slip out of his jacket only for the man to move and press a gun against his head. Priest actually stopped fighting, he could see his hand glowing and spreading with scaring and light as he stopped and looked at them. Dirk winced when the man was roughly taken down to the floor in his distraction.

“Now, I’m not entirely sure what all is going on here,” Dirk was struggling, trying to get out of his grasp, flailing and trying to pull away from him.

“Let go of me!” He grunted when Calitri actually hit him with the gun. He could hear Priest grunt and reach for his hand only to be shoved down into the asphalt. The soldiers fighting with him to get his hands behind his back.

“But really, this is entertaining. Maybe I should bring the psychic in with you.” Dirk closed his eyes, he could hear the man give a surprised noise, and blinked when he realized they were falling backwards, Dirk glancing down to see Todd and yanked on Calitri’s foot causing the man to lose balance. Dirk elbowed the man in the side a few times on the way down. Hearing the grunt when Calitri’s back hit the SUV behind him and he scrambled out of his grasp. Climbing over the top of the car to get away.

“Get out of here!” Dirk glanced to Priest, worry on his face as Farah and Todd escaped through the front Windshield. “Go!” Dirk gasped when Calitri got up and actually shot at them, they jumped between the space between the SUV’s and the front of the hood, Todd and Farah more or less forcing him to run with them.

\---

“Well, well, well.” Priest grunted while looking up at Calitri who was now standing and dusting himself off. Jumping down from the trunk of the car into the little space. Priest was writhing from the electric current running through him from the electric baton pressed against his back. He gave a heavy sigh when it stopped and they used his current state to cuff his hands behind his back. “Actually, protective of them, that’s kind of cute, Ozzy. Don’t tell me you’re going soft on us now.” He motioned to the other agents. “Get the psychic, I don’t care what happens to the others.” He stated Priest could feel a warning throb as he was forced up on his knees.

“You don’t want to go an’ do that now, boy.” He grunted when Calitri stepped down on his thigh over where he had stabbed him, slowly putting more and more pressure on him till Priest was trying to get away from him.

“They’re not coming to save you. Want to tell me how you got out of the interrogation room?” He winced when he stepped down harder while leaning in closer, digging the barrel of the gun into his chin and forcing his head up. “Come on, Ozzy, I’m dying to know.” He yelped when the man kicked his leg, he grunted while trying to get out of the cuffs only to be yanked roughly to his feet by the agents that had him. Rather roughly being shoved into the back of the SUV which took off towards the police station. He could feel his hand throbbing in warning, making him lean his head back with an irritated groan. Hopefully Hugo would be able to take care of this...

\---

Dirk wasn’t sure where they were going as they ran through a small park and out on the other side, ducking through alleys and trying to lose the agents who were rather persistent. He came sliding to a stop when an SUV pulled in front of them and Agents stepped out aiming guns at them. Dirk could feel a panic rising in his chest from this, he didn’t want to go back to Blackwing. He didn’t want Farah and Todd to be captured. He was almost tempted to protect them as much as he could and just surrender anyway. Could feel his chest tighten and throat burn as tears filled his eyes. Farah was trying to determine the best course of action and Todd just held on to him like he knew he was planning on surrendering to them to let them go.

“Hey... Calitri said we could kill the other’s, right?” He quickly moved to stand in front of both Farah and Todd, tears in his eyes as he stood protectively in front of them despite their protests. The Blackwing Agents seemed annoyed by it.

“Uhm... Hi.” They all froze to look up and see Hugo standing next to them, a look of annoyance on his face. “I'm like... super busy right now, so this is a huge-” He sighed heavily when the agents opened fire on him, head tilted back with obvious annoyance when the bullets looked like they were actually stopped in midair before falling. “Now. As I was saying.” Dirk watched with horror when the Blackwing agents were grabbed by black tendrils and dragged behind the SUV where he could hear the men screaming. Along with the sounds of crunching and screaming Dirk felt like he was going to be sick when he realized that Hugo was killing them. “Sorry it took me so long to reach you guys. I was like... totally in the middle of other stuff.”

“You... you killed them.” Hugo looked at him and then back towards the SUV.

“Yes?” He asked and Dirk watched as the tendrils sunk back into his form before the man looked around. “And here.” The man motioned and a portal opened up next to them, Dirk looked at it then over to Hugo with uncertainty. “If you go through there it will bring you back to your motel.” Dirk took in a deep breath and Farah was the one who moved out from behind him and grabbed his and Todd’s wrists. Not even questioning it as she dragged them through the portal, Dirk blinked when they were in fact standing in the middle of their motel room. Dirk quickly turned around when the portal started to close behind them.

“Wait! What about Mr. Priest!” He called out and sighed when it was obviously too late. “I feel like... Operation Save Mr. Priest might be a common thing for us at this rate.” Dirk sighed only for Todd to grab his arm, he turned around to face the man who just hugged him rather tightly.

“Don’t step in front of guns! You scared me! And are you okay? How badly did he hurt you.” He would be lying if he said he didn’t enjoy Todd fussing over him. He could feel the man touching a bruise that was starting on his forehead, wincing slightly from the pain.

“I’m quite alright, Todd, you were amazing back there. He hit you pretty hard.” Was moving and dragging Todd towards the bathroom to help the man clean up his face. Calitri having obviously broken his nose again when he kicked him in the face like that. “I’m so sorry you got hurt because of me...” Leaning in and kissing Todd’s forehead when the man just sighed like it wasn’t a big deal.

\---

Priest was sitting in the interrogation room, staring boredly at his cuffs while resting his chin on the table. His leg was throbbing with pain from Calitri kicking it a few times when he fought with them dragging him into the police station. He just waited boredly for either Hugo to show up or for a Blackwing Agent to come in and pester him. He glanced to the door and slowly raised his head when Calitri finally walked in, holding an IPad and flipping through it while sitting down across the table from him. Slowly setting it down and tenting his fingers together as he rested his elbows on the table so the IPad was between them. Priest just arched a brow, waiting impatiently for whatever it was the man wanted. He was getting a smug smile on his face that was starting to piss Priest off.

“Your little friends got away.”

“Oh yeah, I’m wildly aware.” Priest stated while glancing at his hand that hadn’t been bothering him. Was examining the burns there though as Calitri set his hands down on the table after intertwining his fingers.

“I think it would be safe to just kill you. Supervisor Adams on the other hand wants us to bring you back to Blackwing.” Priest leaned back in his chair, arms stretched out as he drummed his fingers on the table, looking at him with an unimpressed expression, wondering if this was a type of torture. To sit here and listen to Calitri talk, because already he would rather get the shit kicked out of him than endure this bullshit. “Going to give me the silent treatment now?”

“I already told you to kill me last time we talked, so if this is you tryin’ ta get me to beg for my life you’re wasting your time... and mine.” The man just smiled while mimicking him by leaning back in the chair before grabbing the IPad. Logging in to it and loading something up, Priest sighed and leaned his head back, before looking over at him in curiosity when he heard a ringing noise. He sat up this time when the man turned the IPad towards him so he could see a video of Ken sitting in a computer type room holding a microphone.

_\--”Hello_ _Mr. Priest.”_

“Ken! Hey, hows it goin’ see Blackwing’s in a better shape than I thought it would be in. Where ya hidin’?” The man just sighed from his words while shifting in his spot.

_\--“I hear you’re working for_ _Svlad_ _now... Funny how two people who decide to help him-”_

“You turn on them, I know, it’s great, fantastic honestly. You know.” He leaned in hand sliding against the table till the cuffs stopped him as he grinned at the man. “I keep thinkin’ about killin you. Have this great fantasy goin on about tearin’ you limb from limb tryin’ to beg me for forgiveness for turnin’ on me.” He could see a slightly annoyed expression on the man’s face. Watching him lean closer to the camera.

_\--”You_ _can tell me all about your little fantasy after you tell me what you’re doing with_ _Svlad_ _.”_  Said it like he was talking to a child. He clenched his jaw and could feel his eye twitch as Calitri gave a small laugh from the comment. Priest sat back down with an annoyed groan, crossing his ankle over his knee and ignoring how much his thigh was protesting the action.

“I ain't tellin’ you shit.” He snapped and could hear Ken’s heavy sigh on the other end.

_\--”Agent_ _Calitri_ _, get the answers I want from Mr. Priest, call me back when it’s done.”_ Priest rolled his eyes at that.

“Come on, Ken. Don’t want to watch your new toy work?” Teasing tone in his voice, Calitri set the IPad down and hung up before walking over to him. Pulling a knife out of its sheathe as he stood next to him.

“You and I are going to have a lot of fun, Ozzy.” He closed his eyes and waited for it, knowing no pain he inflicted on him would be as bad as the pain Hugo put him through that day.

“Really? Because I’m already bored.” He could hear the man laugh, and gave a small sigh as Calitri got up.

“I'll have to fix that.” He grunted when the man cut his pants over his thigh, glancing down to watch him peel the bandage off to look at the stitch. “Who patched you up by the way?” Priest looked away with annoyance. “This almost looks surgical.” He closed his eyes from the sickening feeling of the drain being slowly yanked out of his leg. The stitching wrapped around it to keep it in place tugging out the other stitches making him squirm and shudder from the odd sensations inside of him as the drain was fully removed. He was panting from the feeling as Calitri showed him the knife, slowly sliding the sheathe on it and then lining the tip up with the hole in his leg. 

He took in a deep breath to prepare himself, feeling the way it started to push into him, it was a lot thicker and longer than the boot knife he was stabbed with and couldn’t stop his cry in pain as the man just slowly shoved it inside of the wound. Stretching and tearing it slowly that his leg muscles couldn’t start pulsating and tensing causing a muscle cramp in his leg so bad his hands were shaking. “Those are some nice burns on your hand.” He closed his eyes, could feel Calitri stand up as he pulled the knife back before stabbing it back in deep enough that it wouldn’t dislodge itself causing him to cry out in pain as his muscles tightened around the knife. He could feel sweat beading his brow as Calitri sat on the table and pulled out his phone.

“Hey, mind bringing me some salt? A bandage too.” He took in a deep breath hands curling into fists as the man hung up the phone and looked to the door as it opened and an agent walked in and set the gauze bandage down and the salt. Priest yanked on the chains trying to get his hands out of the cuffs only for Calitri to catch his wrist and pin it down. “You know... I’ve always heard bandaging a burn is one of the worst things you can do to a burn victim if it’s not soaked in saline.” Priest watched as the man held the salt shaker over his hand and slowly started to pour some out. It stung badly, more or less reminding him of how much pain he was actually in as he leaned forwards with a grunt. 

“So, I wonder... what happens when we dry it out... And then put one over it.” He grunted from the heat alone as he pressed the bandage into his skin. Hand holding over the bandage, it felt so hot like his hand was on fire again. He tried to pull away, as Calitri just kept pressing his hand down harder on it. “Stop moving.” He closed his eyes and winced when he heard something being set on the table. he opened his eyes to look at the lighter that was just sitting there. Felt like the stupid thing was taunting him with the cutesy design on it staring at him in the face. “How much is it going to hurt I wonder... when your burned skin bonds with the bandage...” He was kneeling down next to the table and staring at their hands. “And I set it on fire." Grinning up at him now... And fuck did he wish Hugo would get off his ass and save him already.


	8. Communion of the Cosmos

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Priest finds himself struggling with personal things as the day continues to drag on. Things are brought up he would rather not talk about but thanks to a very concerned Detective they come out in the open, only for the moment to be interrupted and turn into a very bad situation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Characters** : Osmund Priest. Hugo Friedkin. Dirk Gently. Todd Brotzman. Farah Black. Mona Wilder.   
> **Warnings** : Violence. Suicidal Thoughts. Death Threats. More Violence. Pararibulitus Attack. Priest’s POV   
> **Note** : Cosima can be kind of a bitch.   
> Just so everyone knows. Like. She’s a greedy/selfish person.

Priest leaned back in his seat, trying to get his hand out from under Calitri’s as he watched him grab the lighter. He closed his eyes and took in a deep breath when he heard the flint strike as he worked on lighting it. Which was taking a while and had him opening his eyes as he looked up at the man arching his eyebrow slightly. Now deciding to break the annoying silence between them as Calitri let go of him to cup his hand around the lighter as if to block the invisible wind that was preventing it from lighting. He couldn’t stop his amused smile as he leaned back in his seat.

“Performance issues?” Joking tone causing Calitri to sigh while looking from him to the lighter.

“It’s old.” Calitri stated, just causing Priest’s grin to grow from that as he leaned forwards now.

“Uh-huh, that’s alright, happens sometimes.” Playful tone in his voice, which got him a blank look from Calitri who still tried to get the lighter to work. “Ya know, I hear they have things that can help with that.” He was grinning as the man gave him an annoyed look. “Take your time.” Priest mused getting an annoyed sigh from Calitri.

“I think I liked it better when you were in too much pain to talk.” The man muttered while trying lighting it again, smiling when the flame actually started this time. 

“Look at that, you finally got it, I feel like I should give you a round of applause.” He leaned in, arching a suggestive brow at him while running his tongue over his bottom lip. “Or will that scare it away?” Giggling to himself now as he leaned back in his seat.

“Shut up, Ozzy.” He once more took in a deep breath and closed his eyes, waiting for the intense burn only for him to hear a surprised gasp instead. He opened his eyes watching as black tendrils wrapped around the man and slammed him against the wall, pinning him there rather effectively. Priest turned his head to look at Hugo who was stepping out of the shadows as the cuffs released his wrist. Priest grabbed the knife in his leg and pulled it out, giving a grunt in pain as he forced himself to stand, unsheathing the knife as he started to limp towards Calitri who rather quickly began struggling against Hugo’s unyielding grasp.

“Oh, I’m going to enjoy this.” Priest was grinning as he gripped the knife in his hand and tossed the sheathe on the floor, getting so close to the man before Hugo grabbed him by the back of the shirt and started to drag him towards the portal. “Hey, wait a fucking second, Hugo! He’s still alive-”

“Trust me, Mr. Priest,” he grunted when he was dragged through the portal and dropped rather unceremoniously causing him to fall on his back on the motel floor. He glared up at him while working on trying to get up. “Calitri is like... annoying... and stuff. But like... you’ll be able to finish this case with him chasing you. You like will have to go through a lot more if like... Ken lets your... how do I put this? Your like... real? replacement come in?” Priest stopped and blinked up at him before throwing the knife at the man, watching one of those tendrils catch it.

“Real replacement! What the fuck does that mean!?” He moved to put his hand on the coffee table, forcing himself to stand, managing one step before his leg collapsed under him from strain. He grunted when he hit the ground, laying there with an almost growl. Finally noticing the trio out of the corner of his eye and seeing Farah was honestly gearing up for what looked like an assault. He forced himself up into a seated position to look at Hugo who was eyeing his leg.

“Calitri is like... I don’t know... Kind of... Like he’s the type who does what like needs to be done in a way that stands like... between your tactics and your like replacements tactics? Calitri like, knows Blackwing and like works like a... like an actual uhm agent? But this other guy, he... like... like doesn’t?” Priest didn’t understand what that meant. He felt like he was getting a headache trying to understand what the hell the man was saying. He couldn’t help but notice Dirk moving closer like he seemed interested in this conversation.

“Wait, so let me get this straight. We have Mr. Priest, who has very blatant disregard for rules, code of conduct, and willing to do anything and everything, more-or-less, to get what he wants. And then Calitri follows rules but will also do anything to get what he wants?” He glanced up at the boy before looking to Hugo who smiled at him.

“Yes.” Oh good, Dirk understood idiot... That was probably going to come in handy in the long run. Long run... Jesus Christ he hoped he wouldn’t even have to  _deal_  with them in the long run. He just wanted this case to be over so he could... wait... what was he going to do when this case was over? He suddenly just felt deflated and in pain.

“You said Calitri stands between Mr. Priest’s tactics and the replacement?” Hugo was nodding his head now. “So, the replacement... has respect for rules?”

“In a sense.”

“And code of conduct?” Hugo was rubbing the back of his neck meekly.

“Also, in a sense.”

“But they won’t... do anything to get what they want?” Head tilting and voice getting a pitch higher as he grew uncertain about the words he was speaking. Which had Hugo shaking his head at that one.

“No, well...” He took in a deep breath. “He’s willing to change rules and codes of conduct to get what he wants? Or rather they’re already changed in order for him to like get what he wants?” Priest was shifting to look at his leg, which was bleeding pretty badly again and the wound looked terrible and a whole lot larger.

“As  _fascinating_ as this all is and everything... Since you left me there so long can you at least fix my leg, Hugo?” He muttered while looking to the gauze bandage on his hand. Knowing that was going to hurt like a bitch to peel out of his skin. Hugo looked at him and stepped over closer to him, kneeling down and gently touching his leg. Priest felt suddenly exhausted when he let go, head spinning as he fell on his back and stared at the ceiling as Hugo just stood up.

“Okay so-”

“Wait.” They looked over to Farah who was crossing her arms over her chest while watching him. “I’m struggling to see how this man will cause more trouble than Calitri will if he’s more on the rule following side.” Hugo was taking in an exasperated sigh while leaning his head back.

“I think what Hugo means by this guy following rules and codes of conduct  _in a sense_  he means the man makes his own Rules and Codes of Conduct.” Hugo was pointing at him with a look of excitement.

“Yes!”

“And this is worse than Calitri, how exactly?” Farah continued. Hugo moved his hands to press his fingers against his closed eyes. Clearly getting visibly frustrated by this round about conversation before motioning at them and shaking his hands.

“The universe like says it’s bad! Okay?” Trying to get them to understand as he shifted in his spot and even loosed his tie. “I like  _totally_  thought about like killing Calitri too, okay? Especially with like... with like what he was doing to Mr. Priest. But like... it’s not good.” There was a sudden look on the man’s face as his expression fell blank, hands moving in front of him and holding them out like he was holding something between his hands. “I know what happens down the stream of creation when he is no longer in it and you are not prepared to take on this evil.” Priest looked up to him when he noticed the boy’s voice began echoing and he had a blank stoic expression on his face as the red of his irises began to spread. But then like a light switch he went back to smiling at them like nothing happened and stepped towards the portal. “Good luck with the uhhh case.” He closed his eyes when Dirk ended up standing by his head looking down at him even looked so concerned.

“Mr. Priest, are you okay?” He gave a small noise while dismissively waving a hand at the boy. “We were in the middle of getting ready to execute ‘Operation Save Mr. Priest.’ But I guess, of course, Mr. Friedkin would save you.” He felt so tired as he forced and eye open and looked over to Farah.

“That why you look all ready for war, Miss Black?” Sounded amused when the woman sighed while turning to face him. Wearing what actually looked like tactical gear, he grinned while slowly closing his eyes again. “That’s a good look for you.”

“I am not joining a mercenary company, Priest.” She stated flatly he gave a small ‘hmm’ while glancing up at the couch. “Here.” He looked over to her when she knelt down next to him and gently took his hand, he took in a deep breath and clenched his hand into a fist as she looked the bandage over. “Dirk, can you get me a bowl of cold water.” He leaned his head back from the question, glad she wasn’t just going to rip it off the wound. He could hear movement on his other side who he realized was Todd.

“Hugo... seems to have kind of healed your wound? I mean... the wound is there... but it doesn’t look as bad as it did?” He arched a brow from that, opening his eyes and about to sit up to look only for Farah to shove him back down when Dirk came back with the water.

“Could have healed it all the way.” Priest muttered bitterly as Farah guided him to put his hand in the water. Already the cold water felt so good against his hand. He didn’t even mind the painful tug of Farah slowly removing the bandage out of his skin.

“I still don’t understand how your replacement could be so bad.” Priest grunted before opening his eyes to look up at Dirk.

“Things appeal to people differently with ‘commanders.’ People are complex you know, you have to fully understand them an appeal them in ways that make them want to follow you. Typically. people in leader roles work following different types of tactics. And trust me, there’s a lot, you can get people who are annoying and compassionate, to... well people like me. Either way, it can be so much easier for foot soldiers to follow someone who is following  _‘rules’_ even if they ain’t particularly...  _legal_.” Priest began explaining only getting a heavy sigh from Dirk.

“I get that... I think the part I don’t really understand is why you would follow someone who is clearly... well... bad even with the pretense of following rules?” Dirk was tilting his head.

“Because you’re a goody-two-shoes who questions shit, Dirk.”

“Well yes... but shouldn’t most people be like that?”

“People who follow orders are idiots. They’re sheep.” He was getting an eye roll from Farah before Priest moved his free hand to rub above the wound on his leg. “Look, people who follow me are a lot like me, they don’t care for rules, typically in it for the adrenaline rush or the murder, and really that’s the only type of people who are okay with, and will follow, my Tactics. Calitri gets a mix of people like me and people that are more likely to follow the Replacement. Calitri appeals to sadistic assholes, he also appeals to people looking for order. Replacement appeals to all of the types of people you would find. Example to get you to think of it in a perspective that ain’t too difficult for ya.” He cleared his throat sitting up when Farah finished to look at his hand before putting it back in the water given it felt like it was burning again the second it touched the air. 

“Wait are you saying... you’re trying to dumb this down for us?” Todd sounded annoyed but Priest continued anyway.

“Know how ya can get cops who abuse power and brutalize people, sayin it’s their job, sayin they’re just doin what they were trained ta do? How you get military murdering and massacring cities, because it was in their orders? How the goddamn Nazi’s could do all the shit they did following their leader... Ya know, usin the  _excuse_ of just followin’ orders? People willing to follow things even if they sound sketchy and uncertain in the beginnin’ cause its part of the rules, it’s part of the orders. It can’t be that bad. Lookin passed all of them, all the people that don’t stand up or put their foot down to beliefs because they don’t wanna lose their jobs or what the fuck ever. There’s always someone at the head givin those fucked up orders, now ain’t there?” There was a pause and Priest couldn’t stop himself from laughing at that thought. “I cannot believe, that asshole replaced me, with someone like that.” He was giggling to himself to hide his irritation as he forced himself up so he could go and clean his wound and re-stitch it... also put more ointment on his burns because they were starting to hurt now.

“I have a question.” Priest glanced over to Todd who was crossing his arms over his chest. “What’s stopping your boss from sending him over anyway given the fact you got away from Calitri twice now?” Priest leaned his head back in thought on that one before smiling.

“Oh, I feel Calitri is too prideful to admit he lost me again. Last thing Ken said was to torture me till I tell them what I’m doin with you three. So, sure he’s goin to pretend like I’m stubborn and delay as long as possible about lettin’ Ken talk to me again.” He headed over to the med kit grabbing it and limping over to the bathroom so he could work on cleaning and stitching his leg. “By the way... Y’all didn’t use your real names when ya checked into this motel did you?” He closed his eyes when the soft chatter in the other room went silent. Sighing heavily when he heard Dirk say ‘Shit’ and could hear things quickly being packed. That’s what he thought...

\---

“We don’t have a car.” Farah stated as they walked down the hall, Priest glanced at them as they stepped out into the parking lot and motioned to all the cars there.

“Sure we do.” He mused the words watching the look of disbelief he got from them.

“We are not stealing a car.” Farah stated while walking over to him. “Besides, that would be reported and then they would be all over us.” Dirk gave an excited gasp, they glanced over to him when he set Mona down on the ground who was in the form of the nervous pete doll still.

“Mona, we need-” Before he even managed to finish his sentence, he was stepping back as the woman turned into a large car for him. He grinned and they all got into the car Farah quickly worked on getting out of there and heading down the street towards... well Priest wasn’t entirely sure where exactly she was going. But she seemed like she knew so he wasn’t going to question it. Priest was glancing in the rearview, an amused smile pulling across his face when he could see Blackwing’s vehicles pulling into the motel and a full tactical team rushing in.

“Glad I asked when I did, that could have been annoying.” Priest mused, glancing over to Farah who was sighing as they continued their drive. “Where we off to now?”

“I don’t know, I wasn’t able to see where that Compound was located before we had to get rid of our phones.” Priest clicked his tongue before looking at Farah.

“You didn’t leave my phone in the motel, did you?” Suddenly annoyed at the idea of that.

“No, but your phone could be being tracked too.” Priest gave an annoyed sigh, knowing that’s not why she wasn’t using it. After all, if that was he real concern then she would have tossed it. Dirk leaned in between them while looking up to Farah like he clearly had an idea.

“We should stop for waffles.” She didn’t even seem to question it, just looked at him before pulling in to a diner that was there. Priest drummed his fingers while staring at it before looking at them.

“Waffles. Really?”

“Look, Mr. Priest, I have a good feeling about this place.” He groaned as the four of them got out of the car and headed to the door. A waitress greeting them and leading them to their seats and passing out the menus, Priest sat on the inside next to Farah. Which, honestly, he hated sitting on the inside, he felt trapped, he didn’t feel like he had a good escape route or advantage point. But he wasn’t going to argue and cause a scene and get noticed thanks to all the people in the place. He glanced up at Dirk and Todd who were sitting across from them, Dirk looking through the menu with a happy smile on his face. The waitress came back to get their drink orders, which Farah, Todd, and himself asked for coffee while Dirk asked for tea.

“So, what did you tell them when Calitri had you?” Todd was the one to ask, obviously accusatory and very skeptical of him. Priest watched as the boy drank his coffee black, despite looking like he wasn’t particularly enjoying it. Priest just sighed after taking a drink of his own coffee, leaning back in his seat.

“Nothing.”

“That’s bullshit. I’m sure you tried to strike a deal with him to get back into Blackwing.” Todd stated, and Priest rolled his eyes.

“Can we all collectively agree that even though I would love to go back to my old job, it’s never goin’ to happen so I’m not even goin’ to bother to try?” He asked in exasperation, tired of this not trusting him bullshit. “You really wanna know what happened? Calitri tried to get me to talk and I refused, and then he tried to get Ken to get me to talk, and I refused.” He smiled this time and leaned forwards. “And then he pulled the drain and stitches out of my leg before he proceeded to take a knife much larger than the one he stabbed me with and shove it into my leg sheathe and all. And while that was still there he pressed a gauze bandage into my hand and waited till it got to the point it was embedded in my skin, and then he was going to set it on fire, but thankfully Hugo showed up in the nick of time to save my ass.” 

“What... what uh... what did they want to know?” Todd asked while rubbing the back of his neck and looking away from him. Priest rolled his eyes from that one before looking out the window he sat next to.

“Why I’m working for Dirk.” He shifted in his spot before grabbing his coffee and taking another drink. “Didn’t think they needed to know I made a deal with the universe and he decided to make me a babysitter.” He added with an amused smile, lightening the mood a bit... or attempting to anyway. Because if he knew he would have rather fallen to his death. He took another drink and turned to look at the waitress who came back with the food they had ordered.

“Look, Bob, all I’m saying is that it’s weird all this crazy shit is happening in Walden the same times those fuckers in the hills decide to come out like cockroaches.” Priest turned his head from the conversation he could hear from the next table over. He noticed Dirk was perking up too from their topic of conversation.

“I get what you're saying, Irene, but, do you really think they’re responsible? I mean, Communion of the Cosmos couldn’t really be the reason we have a fugitive in our town. Or why we have CIA all over the place, they don’t even do much up there.” Dirk was already getting up and walking over to their table.

“Excuse me, I’m so sorry to interrupt your meal, I’m Dirk Gently, a Detective. I’m currently on a case investigating Communion of the Cosmos, do you happen to know where I can find them?” Priest looked ahead and kept his head down now knowing they brought him up meaning if they actually looked at him they would recognize who he was.

“I wouldn’t mind at all young man.” Bob was talking, “If you go to the gas station on the outskirts of town, you will see a no trespassing sign on the left side with a dirt road. If you ride that up the hill you’ll come upon their little rat’s nest.”

“Oh Bob, don’t be so rude, at least in public where they have been seen.”

“Right, that wouldn’t be good at all, I’m sorry, Dear.”

“Thank you so much for your help you too.” He grinned while coming back to the table and sitting back down to go back to eating. “Told you I had a good feeling.” The boy mused over to him causing Priest to sigh as they ate and paid on the way out with the cash Priest had gotten from Ronda.

The car ride was surprisingly quiet, which Priest found himself enjoying as he leaned his head back and closed his eyes. Relaxing for as long as he could before they started up the rather bumpy drive to the compound. Heading up a dirt road that eventually turned into a gravel road. The road was long and windy in the middle before they eventually ended up pulling up in front of a rather large gate. Priest slowly got out, eyeing the sign that was there and seeing Dirk standing next to him with a bit of interest. 

“Communion of the Cosmos.” He hummed the words while looking towards the gate that was there, he could see a kid standing there staring at them. Dirk was already heading over to talk to the kid with a large smile on his face.

“Hello! I’m Dirk Gently, Holistic Detective, my colleagues and I are on a case and it would be very helpful if we could speak to Mr. Host.” Priest rested his hands on his hips as he watched the kid look between all of them then back to Dirk before walking away. Dirk looked almost deflated from that and hung his head with a small sigh. “Well, hopefully he’s getting someone to talk to us.”

“Could just break in.” Priest offered receiving a sigh from all three of them. “What?"

“That’s not exactly a great plan-”

“But asking Host to hand over three pieces of a crystal he believes will summon his god is? Okay. Sure. Great plan.” He muttered while crossing his arms over his chest.

“It might work-”

“He tried to kill Cosima over the Crystal, he will probably do the same to us.” Priest stated looking up when he noticed the kid standing next to a building and pointing over to them. Eventually some men walked out from behind the building aiming guns out at them and he watched the Trio raise their hands and rolled his eyes before following their example.

“We would just like to speak to Mr. Host.” Dirk stated as the men came closer to the gate, one of them unlocking it and opening it wide enough for them to step in one by one.

“Don’t make any moves or we will open fire.” Dirk was already moving in from their invitation, the guards searching them as they stepped in and confiscating their weapons before leading them further in as the guard who opened the gate locked it behind them. Priest already wasn’t liking this as they were led through the compound where people stopped whatever it was they were doing to look at them. Talking amongst themselves as they were led through working fields to a large cabin in the back of the compound surrounded by armed guards. More Guards joining in on the escort as they were taken inside and lead into an office where Mr. Host currently was sitting and drinking a cup of what smelled like coffee... oh... Coffee sounded so good right now.

“And we meet again, what brings you here?” Mr. Host asked as he motioned to the seats in the room. Dirk eagerly taking one closest to the desk and smiling at the man while resting his hands in his lap.

“I apologize for our intrusion on you beautiful yet very questionable establishment, but I need to speak to you about the crystal.” Priest watched as the boy even scooted the chair closer to the desk ignoring the way the guards aimed their guns at him from the action as he just smiled patiently at the man. “You see, I solved my case, I know you want the crystal because you’re under the assumption it can summon your god-”

“It can summon him. We have been waiting a long time, you may call what we do questionable, but our faith is in something that’s real. Look.” Priest inched closer as Todd sat next to Dirk and Farah got closer as well. He could hear Mr. Host opening a drawer and watched as the man pulled out parchment and set it on the table. “We were foretold of this crystal eons ago, and we finally found it.” He watched Dirk slowly reach for it before looking up to Mr. Host.

“May I?” Asking before politely and gently taking their parchment with the utmost respect that honestly was annoying Priest he was being so careful with it. Priest moved to rest his hands on the back of Dirk’s chair, leaning over it in curiosity as the boy slowly unrolled it to look at the writing and even drawings of the crystal itself and then they could see a drawn figure with what looked like tentacles coming out of him. Shaded in with random spots left out which kind of made it look like the being was made of stars. Honestly it all was making him think of Hugo in that damned galaxy place. From the look he received from Dirk he was wondering if the boy was thinking the same thing.

“Mr. Host, this is going to sound crazy, but I believe your God is the one that hired me to find the Crystal.”

“Don’t mock me in my own home, boy.” Mr. Host sounding very angry as he got up and snatched the parchment out of his hand. Dirk raised his hands half up in surrender.

“I’m not trying to mock you at all! Honest! In fact, Mr. Priest here is stuck working for him, which is why he’s with us because he really wants the crystal back. Hey Mr. Priest you can make him come here right? Like if we bring your God to you, you’ll give us the crystal fragments?” Dirk asked while looking over to him. The man wasn’t looking humored at all about this.

“You just think we’re a joke.”

“Not at all! I mean, you saw it didn’t you? How you shot at Mr. Priest here and all your guns jammed.” He could hear murmuring from the men in the room. Mr. Host was glancing at him and Priest suddenly felt annoyed when guns suddenly turned on him. Like Mr. Host wanted another demonstration.

“I'm sure that was a fluke.” Priest really wasn’t liking this as he stood up and took a step back from the warning throb in his hand so the guns wouldn’t be anywhere near the trio.

“You clearly have already made up your mind so just go ahead and shoot at me.” He stated in a bored tone, Mr. Host was the one who stood up, gun in his hand as he rounded the desk and aimed it right at his head.

“Surely there’s no need for-” Mr. Host held a hand out to silence Dirk, Priest could see the boy looking away and Priest just smiled while taking a step forwards so the gun was right against his head. There was a brief moment of him wondering if Hugo was watching. But then there was a large part of him that kind of hoped he wasn’t, that he was too busy to see what was currently going on. Logically he knew that was a stupid thing to think about, that normally he would avoid situations like this, but right now? Right now, he felt like it didn’t matter either way. He was either going to die, or he was going to live. Mr. Host would either believe them now, or Priest would be free and wouldn’t have to follow Hugo’s dumb ass orders. Or be wanted anymore. Or have to deal with the bullshit he was thrown into thanks to the Universe. Stuck in a situation he hated and despised with every fiber of his being. Seemed like a win-win in the moment, after all, it’s not like he had anything to live for anymore…

Honestly, Priest found himself disappointed when the man pulled the trigger and nothing happened. He watched as Mr. Host pulled the gun away from his head to look at it before putting it back to his skull and pulling the trigger again.

_Click_

Again

_Click_

And again. 

_Click_

Each time it was such a fucking let down.

“How?” Mr. Host sounded in awe as he took a step back.

“Look, Mr. Host, as we have been  _trying_ to tell you. We work for the real owner of the Crystal.” Priest watched as Host aimed the gun at Dirk when the boy spoke. Priest moved quick, hand sliding along it and hitting the right mechanic to pull off the top piece, while simultaneously hitting the tendon in Host’s wrist to make him drop the gun which he caught and continued to dismantle before tossing to the side and stepping protectively in front of Dirk.

“Boss don’t want none of them hurt, Mr. Host.” Priest stated in annoyance, he could feel a hand touch him which he knew was from Dirk who was probably proud of him for dismantling the gun rather than turning it on Host and killing him. He grunted when the man took a step back with obvious annoyance on his face, slowly walking back over to his desk but not sitting down. Just crossed his arms over his chest while looking at the four of them carefully. Like he was thinking about this, Priest could hear the other men in the room murmuring to themselves as they waited for what it was they would be doing.

“Can you bring him here?” Mr. Host finally asked, suddenly annoyingly intrigued by him. He wasn’t liking the vibe he was suddenly getting from the man.

“If he’s free maybe.” Priest muttered while looking to his hand then towards the ceiling. “Hey, Hugo, I know you’re busy but I don’t think this asshole’s gonna give us the crystal fragments till he meets you.”

“You know... Mr. Priest... I like really appreciate you being like  _needy_ and stuff. It’s touching and whatever, but I am like  _really_  busy.” They turned to look to Hugo who was now standing in the room with a look of slight annoyance on his face. The man looked from them to around the room and lifted a hand to wave, the portal behind them creating a black and blue light that danced around the room the same way the galaxy of where he came from was. He could see Todd standing up and looking at it with a sense of familiarity before Mr. Host actually walked over to Hugo in awe.

“You... You’re the one we’ve been waiting for, who the crystal summons?”

“Summons? Whoa, no it doesn’t like summon me? Well okay like I guess that’s a lie? But not like, really? I would only show up because it’s like mine and I like  _really_  need it back—you do have pieces of it...” The man suddenly cut off with intrigue. Mr. Host, seemed to have ignored the man as he walked back to his desk, pulling on gloves before producing the three different sized fragments he had paid Cosima for. “Great! I need those!” Hugo was already walking over and picking up the three pieces and looking them over fondly, Priest was honestly interested why everyone else had to use gloves to handle it. He watched as the man turned and held them out to him. “Mr. Priest, you should be able to hold these in your right hand.”

“Should?” He was amused while lifting his right hand and watching as Hugo held the crystals out. He could feel a light burning in his hand that faded into throbbing as the man placed the three Crystals on his palm. He slowly curled his hand around them and glanced down at them. There was a feeling surging through him from holding it, a familiar power high as he listened to the words being whispered through his skull in unknown languages. Dirk was standing up and looking at his arm in awe, making him wonder what the brand looked like, but when he glanced down he could see it. A blue light that pulsated down his arm like a source of life.

“Okay, I gotta go, good luck Dirk.” Hugo awkwardly patted the boy on the shoulder and then vanished through the portal.

“Great, we got the crystals, let’s go-”

“Wait!” They stopped to look at Mr. Host who stepped over with slight awe while looking at the lights traveling down his arm like he could see them. “Can you bring him back, I have so many questions-”

“You heard him, he’s busy, now fuck off.” Priest muttered in annoyance while moving to try and step around the man only for his hand to throb when he noticed the men in the room aiming guns at Farah, Dirk and Todd. He blinked looking from them over to Mr. Host with annoyance.

“Clearly the crystal isn’t what we need.” Priest really wasn’t liking this. “I think what we’ve been waiting for is you, Cosmos’ warrior. It makes sense now.”  _Great... now he was wanted by the Government, and a Cult. Just fucking great. Thanks, Hugo._ He honestly wanted to laugh at this turn of events, and even started to as he dropped his hand by his side and gripped the crystals harder in his hand. “Take them-”

“Hold on a second now.” Priest finally stated. “Do you really think your ‘God’ is gonna be happy ‘bout y’all stoppin’ us from carryin’ out our mission?” He asked with an amused smile, Farah Todd and Dirk were looking between them, all with their hand’s half raised thanks to the machine guns aimed at them. Farah looked like she was trying to think of how to get out of this, Todd looked annoyed, and Dirk just looked stressed about the whole situation.

“It’s a test of faith.” Priest leaned his head back with an annoyed sigh before moving to take a step forwards and stopping when the men in the room flicked their safety off. Priest could feel the warning throbs in his hand causing him to stop dead in his tracks. “You can summon him, we don’t need the crystal at all, we just need you.” He was nodding his head like his stupid plan made complete sense. Priest found himself incredibly annoyed by this now as he looked to the crystals in his hand. He was invulnerable... in a way. So, he was sure that he would be able to take care of this situation if the others weren’t there. He really was starting to hate all of this even more realizing he would have to talk his way into Host letting the Scooby Gang go so he could kill them and join them.

“Mr. Host.” Priest looked to Dirk, watching as Mr. Host turned to do the same. “I’m really sorry to interrupt this little thing you have going on. But we need Mr. Priest, and we need those crystals, so if you could just let us finish our case... maybe Hugo would be more willing to come back and talk to you?” He tilted his head as he spoke. The man blinked a few times before fully turning his back to him, Priest watched him before looking to the Crystals in his hand. Moving he kicked the man to bring him in the back of his knee, knocking him down on one knee as he moved the crystals and brought them up so they were almost touching his face.

“New plan, you let us go, and I won’t stab these into your eyes.” He grinned while leaning in, looking to the guards which now had a few aiming guns at him. “How’s that sound?” He was honestly curious what would happen if the crystals made contact with his skin anyway. Seeing as everyone else who handled them wore gloves.

“You wouldn’t-” Priest was grinning while moving to grab the biggest crystal with his free hand, watching that light spread down his arms like veins as he lined the sharp point up with the man’s eye.

“Oh, I really would, trust me, I have been looking forwards to killing you since we first entered the compound.” He mused the words out.

“But we worship your boss-”

“Trust me, that really does nothing to make me even remotely care about you guys. Hugo’s a goddamn moron.” He stated while bringing the crystal closer to his eye, feeling the man lean back into him to try and get away. “I am curious what happens when someone touches these though-”

“Let... let them go.” The guns were lowered and Priest sighed in disappointment as he let the man go and put all three crystals back in one hand.

“Pleasure doing business with ya’.” He started while clapping his free hand down on his shoulder before walking towards the door. Opening it to let the trio out first as they worked on heading back through the compound. Couldn’t help but notice Dirk just smiling up at him the whole time that was starting to get incredibly annoying. “What?”

“Oh, nothing.” He held a knowing smile that was making Priest grind his teeth as they continued their journey to the car. A lot of the people stopping again to watch them as they headed back to the mainly staring at the crystals in his hand and talking amongst one another. Priest still wasn’t liking the whole creepy cult experience as they continued to finish this stupid case. “I’m just really proud of you for not killing anyone.” He glared at the boy that time before looking back ahead.

“Don’t get used to that.” He muttered as they reached the gate. Getting their weapons back at the gate they walked out of it and got into the vehicle. Dirk opened that box he had with the other fragment and holding it out to him.

“I don’t think Mr. Friedkin will want to meet Cosima, he seemed very annoyed at the interruption.” Dirk said with a soft sigh, Priest set the crystals in the box and looked at his hand when the light from them faded along with that little power rush. Once more making him feel annoyed and almost empty as he leaned back in his seat.

“I guess I’ll show her I can touch it and maybe she’ll believe us.” Priest stated with slight annoyance as Dirk pulled out the card he had before looking to Farah who hesitated before pulling Priest’s phone out of her pocket. He watched as she looked to the number code that showed up before glancing over to him.

“What’s the code.”

“I’m not telling you my code, just hand it over.” He even moved to grab it from her only for the woman to pull it away from him. “You’re being childish, I’m not going to call anyone, I have no one to call!” He snapped, he felt irritated, he felt... well a lot of things honestly, and he just wanted this stupid case to be over with so he could go do something else with his life. Hopefully do something else with his life, he was tired of this, he didn’t like this, he didn’t want to do this. He just wanted his life back, he wanted everything to be normal again, and he really just wanted that phone.

“Mr. Priest...”

“What!” He snapped while looking back at Dirk. “I’m getting really fucking annoyed with y’all acting like you can’t trust me with a  _phone_  which by the way, the only thing I would do on that when you finally give it to me is redownload games I used to play, and old playlists-” He leaned back slightly in his seat with a small defeated look on his face. “I lost all my progress on my games.”

“Is that  _really_  what you’re worried about right now, Osmund?” Todd asked in obvious distaste, he was too saddened over the loss of all his games and the money he spent on those stupid things to want to say anything to that. He blinked when Farah finally handed the phone over, probably in pity as he typed in the code and held it out for Dirk to take. The boy happily taking the phone and dialing in Cosima’s number and putting it on speaker for them.

_\--”Cosima’s Holistic Retrieval Service, this is Cosima speaking, what can I get for you?”_

“Hey, Cosima! This is Dirk, we got the crystal fragments where should we meet you?”

_\--”That... was a lot faster than I was expecting...”_  Sounding rather surprised could hear movement on the other end of the line followed by a soft sigh.  _“I’ll text you the address.”_  Priest crossed his arms over his chest as Dirk showed the address to Farah who pulled up the map to it so they could head there. Which Priest was finding himself annoyed now that it was taking some time to get there, just wanted this stupid thing over with already.

“Hey... Mr. Priest... What are you going to do when we finish the case?” Priest slowly looked back to Dirk before looking ahead again. He didn’t necessarily know if he was being honest, probably hang out with Hugo till he was sent on his next mission. Wondered if he would get cell reception in that little hideaway of the man’s... Maybe he would be able to join Bart and hunt down Ken... He sunk lower in his seat. Already not looking forwards to whatever would come next, he just turned his head and looked out the window instead.

“I don’t know, Dirk, leaf on the stream of creation and all that...” Couldn’t even go get his old house back and start up his garden again. He frowned from the thought of that while looking to the Venus fly trap he had set up on the dash. At least he could kill time that way until he was pulled off again to go somewhere new... He couldn’t help but notice the boy was looking rather concerned at him and it suddenly clicked in his head why he was being so annoying. “Stop that.”

“I cannot control whose emotions I feel Mr. Priest.” He could hear a sarcastic laugh from Todd.

“What, you mean he actually feels things other than the intense need to murder.” Priest gave an annoyed growl and Farah put a hand up to silence them.

“Can we just have a nice drive for once, please?” Farah asked obviously annoyed with what was going on at the moment.

“Just hard to imagine Ozzy here feels anything at all.” Priest wished he had the box to throw one of those crystals at the man to shut him the fuck up.

“Todd.” He was wondering if the boy was feeling his anger now, he hoped that’s what it was. That he could feel that and was feeding off that and not the fact he was hopelessly depressed to the point of now just stepping in the way of danger. “Please, not right now?”

“I’m just saying, I thought  _feeling_ was a human emotion, and he’s not particularly  _human_.” He slouched more in his seat, mind tuning out wondering what was going to come next. Dreading what was going to come next, he leaned his head back, so lost in his thoughts he didn’t even notice Dirk was changing topics. Didn’t notice that anyone was saying anything to him till he felt a hand on his shoulder. And he hated it, the attempt of what he assumed was comfort because his mind kept spiraling and reminding him of the conversation he had with Desh if he was going to fall into a depression over this again. Because obviously he had, he just shrugged the boy’s hand off his shoulder, eyes closed.

“Mr. Priest, I’m really sorry for disturbing you, but I think we need to come up with a plan?” He finally decided to look out the window noticing they were circling the same place for a while.

“Why are we circling?” He finally asked, glancing over to Farah who looked at him before sighing and pulling off into a random parking lot away from the meeting spot he was sure.

“There’s Blackwing Soldiers at the Park, which is the address Cosima sent. I think she’s doing all of this on purpose, first with the Library... and now this.” Priest turned to try and look out the back. “Like she’s trying to get us caught.” That was really getting annoying, the Library they could work around. But this... he felt like they were going to try harder now, because Calitri wanted him due to getting away  _twice_. From him slipping out of his fingers  _again_ while Ken was involved. He took in a deep breath and slowly let it out grabbing his machine gun as he opened the door and began to step out. “Where are you going-”

“It doesn’t matter.” He stated while getting out and shutting the door, he gave an annoyed groan when Dirk got out and stood in front of him. Hands being held out to try and stop him, Priest was getting really annoyed with the boy’s attitude.

“Mr. Priest, I cannot let you just walk in there. You can’t keep getting caught it’s not-”

“Who said anything about getting caught?” He moved to try and step around him only for Dirk to follow him, having an almost desperate look on his face. Priest clicked his tongue as he stepped closer to the boy, stepping into his hands and pushing them back into the boy as he leaned in. “Get out of my way.”

“No.” He tried to sound firm, Priest knew the boy was trying to keep a brave act up. But he could see the fear in the boy’s eyes for telling him of all people ‘no.’

“No?” He let his eyes get dark, watching as the boy took a step back, having a hard time keeping eye contact with him.

“I am not going to let you walk in there. It... it is suicide.” Priest ran his tongue over his top teeth before biting his tongue. A small smile pulling on his face that he noticed Dirk noticed. Watching how that fear and intimidation fading away and turning into a look of shock and horror. “Mr. Priest-”

“Get in the car.”

“You can’t-”

“Get in the car and stay out of my way, Svlad!” He could see the tears in his eyes, the way he ended up making himself small as he slowly stared up at him.

“His name is Dirk!” He didn’t even notice Todd got out of the car till the man was standing between them. “Stop calling him that name! That’s not his name anymore! He’s Dirk Gently, and you can’t boss him around or control him!” Todd was getting in his face, he had half a mind to slam the butt of his gun into his face. He could feel his hand actually burning him that time just from the thought alone, not a warning this time, but actually hurting him. Like Hugo wasn’t going to let him get as far as he got last time, he grimaced while stepping back. Turning away from them as the burn on his hand felt like it was on fire again, he shook his hand hoping the cold air would help as he took in a deep breath.

“I say we call Cosima and have her come meet us.” Farah was standing next to them now, Priest didn’t even look at her.

“What if... What if she sends Blackwing towards us because she’s not happy with that?” Todd asked in a hushed voice, Priest just wanted to leave. He wanted to go to the Park and take out as many of the agents as he could before dying in a blaze of glory. “And we cannot go with his plan.”

“Why not?” Todd asked, Priest wasn’t even going to argue.

“Oh,  _now_  you want to do his plan? That isn’t going to help anything, Todd, it will just make everything even more complicated, also probably drag our gracious and out of patience omnipotent friend down to us in order to save his life-”

“Hugo might be too busy.” Priest stated it flatly but there was an amused smile on his face, he watched how Dirk actually looked so upset. Figured if anything he would be on Todd’s side, then again the boy always was so sensitive about people dying around them.

“Mr. Priest, I understand you’re going through some things right now-”

“You can’t be serious.” Todd sounded annoyed while crossing his arms over his chest.

“But even if you go out there, guns blazing, killing everything in your line of sight like you always do they won’t...” He couldn’t even say it, he watched as Farah took in a deep breath while turning to look at him.

“I’m sure Calitri will just torture you more till you tell him what he wants.” Priest clicked his tongue and shrugged his shoulders. There was a small fraction of a second before Todd actually blinked in surprise, a small moment of silence as Priest checked his machine gun to make sure it was fully loaded.

“Wait, you’re serious-” Priest watched as Todd swatted at something, the boy stepping closer and doing it again as he looked like he was going to say something only for his behavior of swatting at air to become more frantic as he stepped back and looked at his arms, obvious panic in his face as he began hitting and scratching himself actually screaming. Priest lowered his gun in surprise as he watched Dirk move over to Todd, catching him and helping him to the ground where he grabbed Todd’s hands to try and stop him from hurting himself.

“Todd, it’s okay! You’re okay! I am right here.” He was fighting with Todd who was flailing and yelling about getting something off of him. So frantic and scared, “Farah!” He watched as the woman opened the car and started to dig through a bag. “Hey, hey, Todd, Todd look at me. Okay, just look at me.” Priest couldn’t stop his amused grin realizing that this was an attack, that they just opened up a good opportunity for him to leave. He couldn’t stop his giggle as he began walking away from them, shaking Dirk off his ankle when the boy grabbed it from his spot on the floor. “Mr. Priest, don’t. It is not-” He looked torn now while moving to look at Todd, cupping his face and trying to calm him down.

“Am I interrupting something?” He looked up from the voice seeing Cosima standing there eating an ice cream cone while walking over to them. “Also, this is not the Park.” Priest looked back over when Farah rushed over to Todd with a bottle of pills, taking out what Todd needed and giving it to him as Dirk pressed his forehead to Todd’s, telling him everything was going to be okay. He looked back to Cosima when he felt the wind change, knowing she was trying to get his attention. “Your mark is different.” He took in a deep breath and slowly looked at his hand before looking back at her.

“Different how?” The sounds behind them getting quieter as she stepped closer. There was suddenly a crushing feeling surrounding his hand, he could feel his arm twisting and something grabbing all along it as he was taken down to a knee with a surprised look on his face. She just walked closer as his hand was forced open so she could look at his hand.

“Very different.” She sounded amused hand reaching out he looked from her to it and tried to pull his hand away from whatever was holding him. It honestly felt like  _very_  cold hands. Like they were made of something that wasn’t flesh. He could see the color distortion all around his arm from whatever it was.

“Don’t touch it.” He watched her fingers hovering over it as she just tilted her head with an amused smile.

“Why not?”

“Because it... well, honestly, Darlin’ it’s sensitive in a sexual way, and you’re definitely not my type.” He mused the words out causing her to arch a brow.

“Too young?”

“Not Male Identified.” He watched as she giggled before touching it anyway, his hand twitched from it as he leaned his head forwards biting his tongue to stop the soft moan that was threatening to come out only for her to pull her hand away.

“Hmm, thought you were lying. Either way, it’s a lot different now.” He grunted when whatever was holding his hand dragged him up to his feet, throwing him back and pinning him to the car so she could turn to look to the others. Priest moved his free hand grabbing at what was holding him only to pull back with a hiss in pain as he looked to his hand which was now badly gouged and bleeding.

“Can you let go-”

“No.” She stated flatly while stepping closer, Dirk and Todd were still on the ground looking between them as Farah stepped between her and the other two.

“What do you want?” She asked looking from her to him, he moved trying to tug his arm free when she still didn’t let go with whatever had him.

“I want to see them, I know you have them.”

“Let Priest go.” Farah stated in a dark tone, Cosima just kept eating her ice cream holding a stoic expression on her face. Priest moved his free hand to grab his handgun. Pulling it out of the holster and aiming it at the color distortion, pulling the trigger he flinched when the bullet sparked as it bounced off whatever was holding him and ricocheted into the ground. Which from how loud that gunshot echoed where they were he was beginning to realize that was a terrible idea.

“Give me the crystals. And I’m taking this with me.” Priest grunted when she grabbed on tighter to him lifting him off the floor. He kicked his legs and tried to hit whatever it was with the gun as he felt his shoulder starting to ache from the pain of being held up like this.

“That wasn’t the deal, the deal was we get the fragments and you get us the crystal.” Farah stated as Cosima just arched a brow at them before giving an amused smile.

“I said I would give you the Crystal if you could show me the owner, I only see you four.” She stated with an amused smile on her face, slowly bringing the ice cream cone close to eat more of it. “Now my job as a Holistic Retrieval Specialist is to take things to the right people. So, I want to make sure that this thing goes to the right person.” She stated before continuing to eat her ice cream. Todd was stepping over to the woman now with an obvious look of annoyance.

“You were selling pieces of it to a maniac!”

“Yes. And when he got all the pieces and I got all my money I was going to get it back. Honestly, that’s kind of my thing, it’s what I do, get what I want, take the item back, give it to who it belongs to. But since you guys were so gung-ho about getting the crystals back I thought it would be amusing.” She took a bite off the cone while slowly pulling out her phone to check something. “You know, it’s funny actually... there’s a nice reward for Scar-Face right here... yeah... feel like he should go back to his owner too.”

“Is that why you keep having meetings close to Blackwing?” Farah asked Priest just watched the back and forth in boredom, slowly looking passed her from the bad feeling he was getting in his gut from them just standing there. Like something was going to happen...

“Yes, figure he would be so easy to detain... and look, I was right.” Priest slowly looked over to Cosima who was smiling at him before looking to the car.

“They’ll be after you too.” Dirk said it under his breath, she just gave an amused smile from that.

“I don’t know, Calitri doesn’t seem so bad.” She mused the words while looking to her phone again like she was receiving a message. Priest could see a plume of orange smoke rising from behind her, watching as other canisters came out from around them and began to fill the area, Dirk was moving closer to the car from the sight of it.

“You have to go.” Priest stated as she just smiled patiently.

“You know you don’t want to do that, I could easily kill them.” She mused the words out and Priest grit his teeth easily thinking of how Diamond could destroy people without moving a muscle.

“Mr. Priest-”

“Get in the car and get out of here-”

“Mr. Priest... our car can turn into a tank.” The boy whispered it at him, he blinked a few times before looking at it with an amused grin.  _Right. The car was Mona._  He looked over to Cosima who was a problem, knew Diamond could tear through tanks meaning she could too.

“That won’t work for her.”

“Stop whispering.” Priest grunted when he was pulled off the car and yanked behind her, he could feel other hand grabbing him and shoving him down into the ground. He grunted while trying to get up, fighting whatever was holding him as he listened to other movements. “Now, give me the crystals.” She held out her hand, so expectant for them to hand them over to her. Farah took a step forwards and he could feel a warning throb in his hand, about to yell at her not to until suddenly another version of Cosima stood between them, the car gone and all the contents sitting on the floor.

“I won’t let you hurt my friends.”  _She could turn into_ _other_ _projects?_  That was something he should have grasped in his mind as he watched her move closer, he could see random sparks in the air and Cosima was holding the ice cream cone down now allowing the ice cream inside to fall to the ground.

“That’s not possible-” Cosima gasped and jumped back and over him, he could feel the weight lifting off him as he turned to look over his shoulder to see Cosima dangling there as she used whatever her abilities were to scale the roof of the building and land on top of it. “You guys really are a lot more interesting than I expected.” Mona was once more herself, standing there almost protectively in front of him as he forced himself up to his feet and put his hand on her shoulder.

“Thanks for the help, Sweetheart.” Although he wasn’t actually that thankful.

“I was wondering how you guys managed to get away without a vehicle.” Priest could hear a tinging sound and looked down to the canister that rolled to a stop under his feet. His heart racing as he saw Abaddon’s symbol on it he turned and kicked it right back at Calitri. The man wearing a gasmask causing Priest to groan when it went off midflight. Turning to run as he tackled Farah, covering her mouth and nose with one hand while holding his breath when the smoke engulfed them. He worked on ripping his shirt as she actually struggled. He shook his head trying to get her to stop as he folded the cloth to make it thick enough.

“Hold your breath.” He managed to say it, feeling his lungs starting to burn as she did as instructed. He worked on tying it around her face, filtering the smoke as much as he could as he fell on his side next to her. Knew Dirk, Todd, and Mona would be fine, they were all part of the Universe. They were all projects. His eyes felt tired as the smoke became overwhelming as he passed out with the others, wondering if Cosima got away...


	9. Case Closed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After a small interrogation the Scooby Gang manage to get out of Blackwing’s grasp for a third time and work on wrapping up the case. Priest learns things might not be as easy for him as he wants but it’s starting to look brighter. The gang also begins to bond through a bought of playful banter as a new plot reveals itself about what Hugo might be using Priest for.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Characters** : Osmund Priest. Dirk Gently. Todd Brotzman. Farah Black. Mona Wilder.   
> **Warnings** : Abuse. Burning. A lot of stuff, idk this chapter kind of jumps around. POV Change.   
> **Note** : Look at that. The Big Bad gets a mention.

“--it worked.” Priest groaned as he slowly came to, glancing around the room he was in to see he was once more in an interrogation room. He tried to make movements minimum when he noticed Calitri standing in the room clearly on the phone with someone. Back turned to him meaning he probably didn’t see he was awake. Which was good so he could try to figure out how to get out of there. “Yeah, yeah, yeah- hey!” Sounded offended by whatever the person on the other line did. “Fuck you!” He couldn’t stop his amused smile from that, glad the man seemed to be having a hard time with whoever he was talking to. “You’re a goddamn asshole you know that?”  

_Look who’s talking._  

“I know. I know! Just... yeah...” He stayed still when he noticed the man turning towards him, eyes shut as he continued to control his breathing so it would still look like he was out of it. “I owe you, I get it, Pete—I'm not having an attitude with—are you seriously— Will you just—Pete for fucks sake!” He had to bite his tongue to stop from laughing. “Okay... Okay! Look I have to go, he’s waking up.” Priest gave a small sigh when he heard Calitri hang up the phone and finally raised his head to look around. “Not exactly what I planned on you hearing.” Priest blinked as he worked on taking in the room better to try and see if he had any of the trio there. “But you know how business is.” He stated while walking closer to him, Priest just watched him, looking him over to see what all he was going to do. “I should kill you. In fact, I want to kill you--”

“Can we cut the bullshit, you don’t like me. I don’t like you. You’re pissed at me for escapin’, so on and so forth…” He couldn’t help but wonder who was on the phone though, what he and that Pete guy were talking about. “Speakin’ of… what was that there on the phone? You have to go for help to capture me?” He asked in an amused tone while leaning forwards, Calitri was rolling his eyes at him.

“No.”  _Liar_. He could see it on his face, he couldn’t stop his amused laugh from that as he pulled on the cuffs.

“I guess I’m not surprised, your field work never really dealt in the whole  _capturing_ projects business. But damn, Calitri, I thought you were supposed to be  _good_ at stopping Projects from escaping.” He grunted when Calitri grabbed his hair and yanked his head back. Getting in his face and glaring down at him as he pulled on his scalp hard enough he felt like he was going to rip his hair out.

“You know, Oz, I’ve noticed something with you. Something odd, and very out of character, so damn protective over Project Icarus and his friends. It’s eerie, and honestly, just fucking weird. But then I was thinking...” He glared into the man’s face when Calitri stood up with a large grin and slowly released him. “You could have killed me in our fight. I saw that knife coming for me, there was nothing I could do to block or redirect it. You  _had_ me.” Priest never lingered on that because it was true, he definitely had him but then the brand- “And suddenly... Suddenly right when Farah Black was showing up you twitched. You dropped the knife, and I could see the pain and the shock on your face when it happened. Like something was hurting you despite no one even  _touching_ you.” Priest grit his teeth as he clenched his hands into fists. Not liking where this was going at all.

“And again, when we had you, while you were fighting off those guards. You almost had their gun free from their holster. You could have killed them, you could have gotten away with the trio. But then I put that gun to Dirk’s head and you had that same look of pain as you glanced at your hand before you were taken down. The same hand that is currently burned, and clawed up.” Priest could feel a warning throb in his hand, he pulled harder at the cuffs knowing exactly where this was going. Even glanced at his arm to notice the bandages over his accidental self-harm were gone and left open and exposed. “So, I wonder.” He watched as Calitri walked over to the interrogation room door and opened it. He stood up when Dirk was thrown into the room, tripping over himself but managing to catch himself on the table.

“You do not have to be so rude! Don’t I get a phone call or some—Oh! Hi, Mr. Priest, I was wondering what they did with you. We were so worried when we came to and you were-”

“Dirk-” He closed his eyes when Calitri punched the boy hard in the stomach, watching Dirk go down as Priest clenched his hand into a fist and dropped to a knee from the pain surging through his hand. His hand trembling from how much it burned. “Fuck-”

“Oh... Oh this is good. I don’t even have to touch you, do I?” Priest looked up as Calitri took his tie off, then his suit jacket. Slowly rolling up his sleeves to his elbows as Dirk sat up and scooted away from him. “Can just play with the little Detective here.” Priest pulled at the cuffs as Calitri advanced on Dirk. Grabbing the boy who got up and tried to get away. “Does you hurting depend on how much he hurts?” Priest didn’t know, and honestly didn’t want to find out.

“Wait! Wait, Agent Calitri,” Dirk was trying so hard to be diplomatic but Calitri didn’t seem to be having it. “Surely there’s  _something_ we could-” Priest moved his hand to grab his cuffed wrist as he cried out in pain from his nerves burning when the man hit Dirk again. Obviously harder, he could just hear the hits keep coming. Dirk crying out, the frantic begging and sounds of the boy trying to get away as Calitri kept hitting him. Priest felt the bile building up in his throat from how much his nerves were on fire. From how it spread to what felt like his entire body, he was panting heavily while tugging harder at the cuffs.

“How long till he shows up?” Priest looked up feeling the sweat run down his forehead as his vision waivered. “Do you know?”  _He? Was he talking about Hugo..._  his eyes flickered to Calitri’s belt where he could see another bomb for Abaddon on his hip.  _He was going to try to capture Hugo?_

“I’s’random.” He slurred out through the pain. “Doubt he’z’showin’ up this time.” He winced when Calitri hit Dirk again before letting the boy go. He watched the boy slump down to the floor, crying in obvious pain and trying to move away from Calitri.  

“Oh. He’s going to show up. If he won’t come and save the kid.” He grit his teeth from the spark of pain starting again when Calitri kicked the boy hard enough to knock him into the floor. Watching as the boy actually managed to crawl over to him and behind him. Like there was something he could do to save him, he blinked when he felt the boy’s fingers against the back of his belt. When he felt the boy going for that hidden handcuff key he told them about when they came back in the first time he uncuffed himself. “Then I’m sure he’ll come save you again.”

“D’nno... Kinda mad at me... I think anyway... He sounded mad to you right, Dirk?” He asked as the boy obviously managed to get the key.

“Perturbed in my opinion...” Calitri rolled his eyes and moved to grab Dirk who moved to try to get away only to be grabbed by his shirt. Dragged back towards the front of the table where the boy slyly slid the key on it by his hand. Priest grabbed it while Calitri was distracted by Dirk and moved to start uncuffing himself. “Please, stop hitting me, I didn’t even do anything-”

“How’d you do it, Icarus?” He could hear Dirk whine and glanced up to see Calitri pinning the boy against the wall and digging his knuckles into the pressure points along his collarbone. “How’d you get Osmund to help you like this? Does it have to do with those crystals?” Priest unlocked the first cuff as he watched the boy wave his hands and try to pull away from him.

“I did  _not_ do anything, he just kind of showed up one day.”

“That must be so horrible for you.” Priest got the other cuff undone, slipping the key in his pocket as he slowly got up and started to head for Calitri. He winced when the man punched Dirk, listening to the boy cry out as his hand throbbed with pain, but he moved fast. Getting over to the man and getting him in a sleeper hold, easily choking him with his bicep as he walked backwards to put space between him and Dirk.

“Boss says I can’t kill you.” Calitri was trying to slip out of the hold, free hand digging his fingers into the burn on his hand which fucking hurt but he wasn’t going to let him go. He would endure, endure the pain and get them out of there. “Says the person who comes after you is worse.” He could see the man’s free hand reaching for something and he moved to slam him face first into the desk. Pinning him down and forcing his hands into the cuffs on the table before punching him hard in the kidney listening to him cry out as he fell on his knees. “You didn’t tell Ken I escaped last time, right?” He was digging in the man’s pockets, pulling out his phone and moving back when Calitri tried to elbow him. “You alright over there, Dirk?” He moved to Calitri’s hand, grabbing his thumb when he tried to pull away.

“I don’t know.” He admitted as Priest twisted Calitri’s thumb forcing it against the phone to unlock it. “What are you doing?”

“I’m calling Ken.” He opened up Calitri’s contacts seeing the man’s last phone calls titled; ‘Useful Asshole’ and ‘Top Asshole.’ Knowing the first one must have been Pete he moved to get the second one as Calitri just laughed against the table. He blinked when Dirk grabbed the phone and tried to hold it away from him. He grabbed the boy by the shirt and reached over him to try and grab it.

“Mr. Priest you can’t!”

“Give me the phone!” He snapped the words only for the boy to continue to hold it away from him, trying to put more distance between them. Calitri was laughing now and Priest grunted while pulling the boy closer. “Give. Me. The. Phone.”

“Yes, please, I want to see what happens.” Calitri stated smugly.

“What will happen is, Replacement will be sent in and Mr. Friedkin said we weren’t ready for that yet-” He turned his head when the interrogation room busted open, Priest pulled the boy behind him. Getting ready for a fight only to see Todd and Farah looking shocked to see the situation. Todd running in to the room to check on Dirk. Holding his face and pulling him down to kiss the bruises on his face. Even working on pulling off his sweatshirt for Dirk to use for his bloody nose.

“We were going to save you but looks like you took care of Calitri.” Priest grunted while looking to the two lovebirds before walking over to Farah who handed him the box of crystals. He took them as he turned to look to Calitri who was getting up and moving closer to his cuffed hands. Priest stepped over to the man and grabbed him by his shirt yanking him as far away from the table as the cuffs would allow.

“Who comes after you?” He asked, watching how the man just smiled at him.

“Osmund... why on earth would I tell you that?” Priest narrowed his eyes on him wondering if he even knew as he glanced towards Dirk who was setting the phone on the other end of the table.

“Is it that Pete guy you were talking to?”

“Pete?” Calitri looked more than amused. “I doubt it... that asshole is useful but I don’t think he’d do well with this shit.” Priest couldn’t tell if he was lying or not.

“What’s his full name?” He wanted to look into it, Calitri slowly tilted his head before smiling again, Priest could hear him moving with the cuffs like he was working on getting out of them.

“Priest, we need to go.” Farah was stating while stepping in closer.

“What’s his name?” Priest asked again, stepping closer to Calitri and shoving him more into the table.

“I’m not telling you.” Calitri stated before the man leaned in. “You could call him, I’m sure he would love to talk to you and would happily give you his name.” Priest glanced towards the phone only to see Dirk grab it again and hide it behind his back. Farah was moving closer and put a hand on his arm.

“Priest.”

“You wanna know what we’re in for, don’t you?” He could see them looking at one another as he held his hand out wanting Calitri’s phone.

“I think it’s stupid to give someone else the heads up we got away when we have everyone else currently incapacitated. We need to go, now.” She had a good point, he grunted before looking at them.

“Fine, I want his number at least.” He could see Farah and Dirk exchanging glances as Calitri rolled his eyes. Priest punched the man in the stomach watching him drop to the ground as he knelt next to him and took the handcuff keys, setting them just out of reach as Dirk finally walked over with the phone. Priest forced Calitri to unlock it and stepped away to look at the contacts. “He’s the one under ‘useful asshole’.” He watched as the boy went through the phone and wrote the number down before they started to head out. Dirk leaving the phone by the door on the way. Priest glanced around before noticing Mona wasn’t with them.  

“Where’s-” Farah held up the gun she was holding and he couldn’t stop his amused laugh as they continued out of the police station where most of the agents seemed to have been tied up or knocked out. “How exactly did you manage this?” They paused momentarily to pick up the bags that were brought in with them. Priest feeling sad that they didn’t seem to take the venus flytrap meaning it was probably still in the parking lot they were captured in.

“Helps when we have a shapeshifter who can turn into anything.” He wondered what that anything was from the looks they were getting from the agents as they walked passed. Heading into the parking lot Farah set down the gun and watched as it turned into a car. Farah was pulling out Priest’s phone and handing it over to him to unlock it. He sighed and did was she wanted before watching her hand the phone over to Dirk. “Can I ask why you were so persistent to get that cloth over my face?”

“The concentration of gas in that bomb is strong enough that it kills normal people.” He grunted when Todd kicked his seat.

“Thanks for looking out for me too, asshole.” Priest bit his tongue, leaning his head back before just smiling and glancing back at him.

“Todd... you’re definitely not normal. I’ve seen what your sister can do, you have the same ‘disease’ as her I’m positive you can do it too.” He grinned from look of surprise he was getting from Todd, noticing a solemn look coming from Dirk who slunk back in his seat while calling someone and putting the phone on speaker.

_\--”How the fuck did you guys get out-”_

“Look, Cosima, we are willing to overlook the whole... you know betraying us thing.” Dirk started and Priest rolled his eyes.

“No, we’re not.” He, Todd, and Farah all said at the same time causing Priest to smile from that as Dirk cleared his throat.

“But we need that crystal... You got paid right?” He asked sounding so hopeful as the woman on the other line just sighed.

_\--”Because you guys are persistent, entertaining, and a lot stronger than I expected... I feel It will be safe to leave the crystal with you. I’m sending you my address now. But would much prefer to give the crystal to the owner just so we’re clear.”_

“Don’t worry, he’ll get the damn crystal.” Priest stated bluntly as she hung up the phone. Dirk was staring at the phone with obvious excitement when a text message popped up. Handing it over to Farah after loading the address in they took off towards their destination.

“What happened with Calitri?” Farah asked glancing from the phone over to him before looking back to the road.

“He discovered that Mr. Priest gets hurt when we get hurt.” Was all Dirk said, Priest glanced back to see Todd cupping Dirk’s face and pulling him close. Whispering things to him as he kissed at his bruised face, Farah was taking in a deep breath and leaning back in her seat.

“That’s not good, he might use that to get what he wants.” Priest sighed while looking at his hand, starting to think about what Cosima said about his mark.

“Hey... Dirk... does my brand look different to you?” He finally asked while glancing back, seeing Dirk blink a few times before holding his hand out. Priest slowly held it out for him and watched the boy look it over.

“The light is blue now instead of white?” Was all he offered. Priest slowly pulled his hand back to look at it, curious what that meant. Only for his thoughts to be interrupted as Farah pointed ahead to a small house and pulled up in the drive way. The four of them climbing out as Dirk slowly handed the box over to him.

“Since you can actually touch them and all.” Dirk stated with a soft smile, like the boy was trying to cheer him up. He groaned from that as they walked over to the door and Farah knocked on it, they could hear the sound of ringing crystal and suddenly the door was open, that distortion of color retreating down the hall and they followed after it to find Cosima sitting crisscross on a couch eating popcorn and flipping through channels.

“Hello, just slip the crystals in.” She pointed to the larger crystal that was sitting on a towel on the table. Priest set the box down next to it and pulled open the top before grabbing one of the larger crystals. Could see Cosima staring at him now rather than the TV, he slid the crystal into the hole it obviously went to and watched as it molded back together like it was never broken. Grabbing the next and repeated the process till he had all the long spires back into place. “You can touch it?” She was narrowing her eyes on him, he moved his hand and picked the Crystal up, looking it over and feeling that rush of power again as the light spread further down his arm. Could feel it in the back of his neck as he stood up and turned to look at her.

And he could see it now, the things that she could use, all of them facing behind her and dangling there they almost looked like weird arms made out of crystal... and she had multiple of them. He narrowed his eyes from that before looking over to Dirk who honestly didn’t look much different, other than the fact there were what looked like a jumble of words and letters floating around his head. Moving and changing in various degrees of speed. Todd on the other hand... Todd had a weird aura around him that looked like a smoldering flame. Yet also appeared like it was being forced down... Probably from those pills he took. He slowly looked back to the crystal in his hand. An amused smile playing on his face as he turned to look to Cosima who didn’t look very happy over the fact he could hold it.

“I guess that’s it then... Now if you would excuse us-” He sighed when he saw one of those arms moving fast and towards him. Very quickly moving to the side as it cut through the coffee table the crystal was sitting on earlier. She was narrowing her eyes on him and the others stepped back in obvious shock.

“You can touch it?” She repeated the question, he looked form the table over to her then down to the crystal in his hand.

“Has something to do with my mark...” He stated in obvious annoyance, watching her carefully as she took in a deep breath.

“I want to meet him.” Wondered if it was to try and ask him things, Priest clicked his tongue as he cautiously stepped forwards while eyeing her deadly little abilities to make sure she wasn’t going to use them to try and hurt him... Or one of the others.

“I’m sure you will, he seems busy bouncin’ between projects. But he’s busy right now.” He watched as all the arm like attachments rattled and puffed out behind her almost like the tail of angry cat... in his opinion. “You feel like your jobs complete now... don’t you?” She crossed her arms over her chest and rolled her eyes.

“Ugh, fine whatever, I was tired of the stupid thing talking to me anyway.” She stated bitterly while picking up her bowl of popcorn and proceeding to flop back down on the couch to go back to watching the TV.

“Cosima... why don’t you come with us?” Dirk asked while tilting his head, Priest grabbed the box and carefully set the crystal inside of it. Blinking when he could no longer see all the things he had while holding it. Made him wonder what it was, if it was part of the universe or something...

“I like you Dirk... But not that much. Besides you seem like the type to do shit for free and I like money.” She stated while leaning back in her couch. Moving to actually lay down before waving a hand at them. “Bye. Good luck or whatever.”

“Cosima...” Priest wasn’t looking at her, just stared at the box in his hand as anger slowly started to simmer under the surface as he thought about everything. Thought about how she clearly had been in contact with Calitri, he wasn’t sure if it was recent or through the whole process... but he knew she was talking with Blackwing anyway. “Blackwing  _will_ come for you, they’ll offer you money and riches, and a place to stay... Everything beyond your wildest dreams will just be handed to you on a silver platter.” He gripped the box tighter in his hand and there was a part of him that felt like he could feel the box bending from it.

“But when they do it’s only to use you and experiment on you.” Cosima seemed to have stopped while holding the popcorn close to her mouth and slowly lowering her hand. “Calitri already offered you a job, right?” He asked while arching a brow. She was rocking her foot before sitting up and watching him.

“Says they’ll pay good money if I retrieve the other projects for them.” She admitted. “Told them I would think it over.” Dirk was moving closer now and Priest gave a heavy sigh.

“They just want to use you, nothing more. The second you become what they consider a ‘ _problem_ ’ they’ll abandon you and try to destroy you.” Priest stated in a harsher tone, turning to leave the room. Especially when he noticed Dirk giving him that annoying look he did when he was trying to be caring.

“I meant it when I said you could come with us, Cosima, you don’t have to stay, but we could give you a ride to somewhere away from Blackwing.” Priest glanced back to Dirk who was standing in front of her. Watching as she actually seemed to be thinking it over.

“I kinda am more into the  _solo_ thing... Thanks for the offer though. And don’t worry about me, I’m only here for the night and then I’m off to my next job.” Priest just hoped it wouldn’t be for Blackwing as he turned and continued to head outside, getting in the car. Just waiting for the others wondering where he should even take the crystal figured Hugo would just appear and take it and that would be that. He watched as the others climbed in the car and Farah handed him the phone again.

“Mind checking if we’re on FBI’s most wanted?” She asked while starting to drive. He looked to the phone and slowly unlocked it before opening an internet window and looking it up, scrolling through the wanted list but just seeing himself with an updated picture of what he looked like. He slowly closed the phone and rested it on his thigh.

“You guys are in the clear-” He blinked when the phone started to ring, slowly picking it up to see Monique’s name over the screen. Farah looked to him then back ahead he wondered if she was going to say anything as he answered it and just put it on speaker. “Priest speakin’.”

_\--”You have been busy, Osmund...” He couldn’t help but be amused at the words._

“Typically… there somethin’ I can help ya with Darlin’?” There was a long pause before she gave a solemn sigh.

_—“I wanted to call you before you asked me…”_  There was resignation and a bit of actual pain in her voice. _“I can’t help you.”_  He took the phone off speaker and brought it to his ear. Farah was looking at him as he turned slightly in his seat to stare out the window. Mind replaying her words as he bit his bottom lip before leaning forwards to rest his elbows on his knees. Free hand running through his hair in slight panic over the words, that he would never be off the list. That they would look for him everywhere. That eventually he wouldn’t get lucky and they would do god knows what to him until Hugo could get him.

“What do you mean you can’t help me?” He finally asked, it was the only thing he could ask. He could hear voices over the phone as Monique stayed quiet for a while.

_\--”This goes beyond me. This comes from a higher power.”_

“Monique... You are one of the highest powers-”

_\--”Just... listen to me... This is something I have known since before we saw one another at The Worm Hole. I wanted to tell you there but you were busy and I was busy…”_

“Monique.” Felt like she was stalling and he didn’t like that. She didn’t usually stall she was always straight to business.

_—“I noticed activity on the phone recently so I figured you were in the clear.”_ He took in a deep breath wondering what that meant, what she was talking about for this to be such a big issue.  _“I will do what I can, but I can’t get you off the list.”_  She sounded like she was whispering now, could hear a door closing. _“I...”_  Like she was struggling to explain and just gave a heavy sigh.  _“There’s another force at work here. And they’re watching me.”_

“You sound scared. Monique, what’s going on?” The woman was never scared she was untouchable... Did this have to do with the Replacement?

_\--”Just know I can’t help you. I will help keep your friends off the list, but there is nothing I can do about you.”_

“Does this have to do with a guy named Pete?” He wanted to know if that man was the Replacement, and he wanted to know if he was really that high up to make Monique of all people scared.

_\--”I’m not sure if I should actually answer that. I know you, Osmund, you don’t want to start a fight with him. I’m sorry... And I actually mean that, Osmund. I am sorry.”_  He pulled the phone away from his ear when she hung up. He stared at it for a long time in silence before starting to giggle. Dropping the phone on the floor by his feet as he covered his face with his hands, just laughing which was slowly breaking. He guessed he was just fucked then...

“Pull over.” Farah hesitated but did as asked, he grabbed the door handle and climbed out of the car. Shutting it behind him as he leaned his head back and stared up at the sky. Finally heading to the back where they had loaded all of their bags. Dirk was already standing next to him as he worked on grabbing what was his.

“What are you doing?” He looked over to the boy who was already forming a nasty looking black eye, had a split lip, and some bruises on his cheek and forehead thanks to Calitri.

“Leaving. Your case is over I have no reason to stay.” He stated bluntly, already closing the hatch and moving to walk around him. “Good luck or whatever.” Waving his hand dismissively only for Dirk to run in front of him and cut him off.

“Technically the case is  _not_ over yet we haven’t returned the crystal.” Priest rolled his eyes from that.

“Y’all don’t need me to do that. I did my job. You’re still alive. I’m leaving.” Even though he didn’t actually feel like the job was over yet. He doubted he would even get far before the brand went off, but he just wanted to be alone for a while. He wanted to think and figure out what he was going to do now that his only fix for his current situation wasn’t going to help him. Or tell him why she couldn’t help him.

“Mr. Priest-“

“You don’t even like me, Dirk, just move out of the way.”

“You left your phone in the car.” He gripped the strap of his bag with an annoyed grunt. “And you know, honestly, you are kind of growing on me… you know despite us all having to talk you out of murder every five seconds... you have been very helpful on the case.” Smiling at him, which honestly his attitude made him want to punch the boy in the face causing his arm to burn. The boy seemed to have noticed from glancing to his brand before looking back to his face. “Even if you do always seem to want to hurt me. But I get the feeling we can work all that out.” He rolled his eyes when the boy gave him a pat on the shoulder. He glanced back to see Farah and Todd standing outside of the car as well before he looked back to Dirk.

“What’s the plan then? Drive around till Hugo shows up?” Surprised and annoyed already that the man didn’t make his appearance the second they got the crystal in one piece.

“No. We’re going to Cheryl’s.”

—

Dirk was happy when Priest eventually got back in the car, the four of them driving in silence for the most part. He had snuggled up against Todd in the back and watched as Priest worked on downloading things on his phone. Which he found himself curious if it was games or music as the man seemed rather focused.

“So what type of music do you listen to, you seem like the country type.” There was a teasing tone in Dirk’s voice as he nudged the back of Priest’s seat. Smiling when the man arched a brow and shot him an amused look over his shoulder.

“Depends on the country. For the most part it’s Alternative, Rock, and grunge.”

“Tch, you listen to grunge?” He glanced up at Todd who now seemed interested in the conversation, Priest just shifted in his seat to look back at him.

“You act so shocked, your little band wasn’t half bad if I’m being honest.” Amusement held in the man’s voice and Dirk couldn’t tell if he was serious or not and from the look on Todd’s face he seemed to have been unsure as well. Dirk gave a small squeak when the man leaned over him to swipe Priest’s phone to look through the playlist the man was obviously making. Holding some disinterested looks on his face along with a few surprised ones before sighing.

“I’m adding more to this since you surprisingly have decent taste in music.” Priest gave him a mock offended look while turning more in his seat. The look slowly slipping into an amused smile though.

“I have  _wonderful_ taste in music, thank you very much.” Dirk was happy for once that the conversation between Priest and Todd wasn’t hostile at once. That they seemed to be actually getting along without fighting or yelling at one another. Felt like that was progress, that he could relax more.

“Debatable.” Todd had a playful tone in his voice with a little bite that had the man up front giggling. Dirk couldn’t stop smile from this, from how peaceful everything was feeling. No longer overwhelmed by an abundance of sadness and depression. Which sure it was still there, but the current peace and playfulness in the air was enough to lessen it a considerable amount.

“Too mainstream for you?” There was a playful tone in the man’s voice which received an eye roll from Todd who just kept doing what he was doing. Dirk looked away from Todd and forced himself to sit up giving a soft gasp.

“Oh no.”

“What?” Todd looked concerned as Dirk flopped back into his seat with a frown on his face.

“Now you both will probably veto my music.” He could hear Farah groan as Todd just grinned.

“Yeah, I guess so. Two against one, no more K-Pop in the car.” Priest was laughing from Todd’s words and Dirk just sighed as Farah rubbed her forehead.

“I said no more music wars.” She stated with obvious resentment. Not that Dirk blamed her sometimes the two of them could really get into fighting over the radio while they were in the front seats.

“That why the radio has always been off or on the AM channel?” Dirk glanced over to Priest as Farah gave a resigned; ‘yes’ causing Priest to giggle. “Hey, Mona, could use an auxiliary cable in here for the stereo.” Dirk watched as one appeared Priest grabbed it and held it back towards Todd who was plugging it into the phone before turning it on. Playing the new playlist that was created by both him and Priest who eventually got the phone back to add new songs to the playlist as well.

And already Dirk was regretting the two having a bonding moment from the car being filled with angry and frantic strumming of a guitar from one of the songs playing. He sighed while leaning against Todd and staring at the radio. Noticing Farah move to turn the volume down a bit obviously not a fan of the angry music both Todd and Priest seemed so fond of.

“Hey, Mr. Priest, when do you plan on calling that Pete guy?” Dirk asked, figuring maybe he would turn the music down so they could speak on this topic.

“When I have a phone that I don’t care if they track.” He supposed that made sense, he drummed his fingers on his knees before leaning forwards to rest his chin on the back of the man’s seat.

“I think it would be pointless to call.” He finally announced, it just sounded like trouble.

“Funny, don’t recall askin’ for your opinion.” Priest mused out the words while finally putting the phone down, Farah sighed now.

“He’s right, Priest, calling him doesn’t seem like a good idea. If Calitri hasn’t told them you got away, talking to this Pete character probably will give it away. Then we’ll have to deal with him and Hugo said-”

“I would have to deal with him. Not you. When we get that crystal back to Hugo I’m out of here. You guys won’t have to deal with jack shit from me anymore.” Dirk glanced over to Todd who gave a very small; ‘hallelujah’, from Mr. Priest’s comment. He sighed from that while leaning back in his seat again, supposing that made sense... but he was still worried for the man’s mental health from his actions and the way the man’s emotions had been so strong recently.

“This isn’t good...” Dirk glanced up noticing they had been driving for a while, and he knew it didn’t take that long to get out of Walden.

“What’s wrong?” Dirk finally asked while tilting his head at the woman who gave a soft sigh and glanced towards Priest. He followed her line of sight noticing the man giggle, he squinted at them before looking to Todd who tugged on his sleeve. He followed where he was pointing and could see a group of men blocking off the exit and entrance to Walden checking ID’s before letting people through.

“Check points... I’ve even tried to check the back roads but they have those blocked off too.” Dirk kept his eyes locked on the checkpoint before looking over to Farah.

“I have a good feeling about this one.”

\---

_Good feeling._  Priest grunted while staring at the check point. Watching as Farah drove up to it to wait behind a couple of cars ahead of them. He watched how they checked for ID’s and a couple others walked around the car and checked it before they allowed people through. He was already getting ready with a gun if need be as they drove up when they were motioned forwards. The veiled agent stepping over to the window as Farah slowly rolled the window down.

“License and Registration please.” He was thrown off by the voice to really pay attention to the curiosity if Mona even had a registration. It sounded way too familiar, he narrowed his eyes on the agent who he could tell was staring at him. Feeling Farah reach passed him to open the glove box he leaned back in his seat before an amused smile slowly pulled across his face.

“Desh?” He watched as the woman laughed before pulling her veil down to reveal she was in fact Deshmuhk. “Go back to Blackwing already?” Sounded amused as Farah sat up to look from Priest to the agent and back with obvious confusion.

“Nah, we got a job from Monique to play as Blackwing Agents help you get out of Walden.” She took Farah’s license and looked through it before handing it over. “Just need to play the part for the cars and cameras in the area.” She mused out, he found himself intrigued by this as he thought of his and Monique’s conversation, that she would help him in ways she could, just couldn’t get him off the list. “Get the feeling that we’re going to get jobs like this often.” She stated as she looked through Todd and Dirk’s license before handing them back.

“No faith, Desh.” He mused out the words with a large smile as the woman laughed.

“Boss, with you getting caught twice with news articles about it. I really doubt you’re going to do too well out here.” He rolled his eyes from that while crossing his arms over his chest.

“Got out didn’t I?”

“And you would be thrown right back in if we weren’t here.” She countered while standing up straight. “See ya later, boss.”

“Bye, Desh.” He couldn’t stop his smile as she stood up and banged on the hood of their car to give Farah the go to drive. He started to giggle as he leaned back in his seat as they left Walden, wondering how long they would be there. He glanced over his shoulder where he could see a couple ‘agents’ watching them as they drove.

“What was that about?” Farah finally asked to break the silence that filled the car.

“I dropped my team off with Ronda before I was sent to find you guys. Clearly Monique is keeping her word about willing to help me to the best of her ability.” Just wondered why she felt comfortable hiring them for this job, but wouldn’t take him off the list.

“Isn’t it bad if they get caught and it gets leaked back Monique paid them.” He couldn’t stop his amused smile at that while crossing his arms over his chest and leaning back in his seat.

“They’re smart enough not to talk about who their client is, and honestly they could just feign that they wanted to help me themselves.”

“The fact people like you enough to want to do that is astonishing.” Todd stated from the back, causing Priest to grin as he looked back towards him.

“What can I say, Todd, I’m very charming when I want to be.” When he wanted to be being the keywords there, Todd just rolled his eyes from that. Priest looked back ahead before looking back to Farah. “As I was saying, it wouldn’t be that hard to avoid bringing Monique into this mess.” He stated while looking out the window, watching as they headed down a pretty open highway before they entered into another town.

“We should get food I’m hungry.” Dirk finally stated from the back seat.

Food happened to be them stopping at a little diner that looked like something you would see on an old postcard. Dirk lead the way inside and got them a booth in the far corner, the news was playing on a small box television by the counter and there were a few people in the diner that were obviously truck drivers. Priest watched the waitress who brought them their menus and asked what they would like to drink, all but Dirk saying Coffee, while the boy got a milkshake instead because they only had sweet iced tea. Which apparently the boy thought was an abomination. Priest glanced through the menu, not really finding anything that sounded appetizing as he closed the menu and pushed it to the side. Settling on just drinking his coffee instead, which even with the added sugar and creamer still tasted a bit bitter.

“What’s the plan after we return the crystal to Cheryl?” Todd finally asked and Priest groaned just thinking about it. He could see Dirk humming while shifting in his seat, looking like he was fidgeting while being deep in thought.

“I don’t know,” Dirk started while shifting in his spot. “I guess we’ll go different ways if that’s what Hugo wants?” He asked sounding a bit disappointed with that statement which had Priest narrowing his eyes on the boy. Wondering why the sudden change in him, it all happened after the Cult incident... he better not be trying to gauge this bullshit with that bleeding heart of him.

“It better be what Hugo wants.” Priest muttered under his breath while taking another drink. The boy just leaned over the table and nudged his knee with his foot. A playful smile on his face, almost like he was up to something.

“You know you love us after spending so much time with us, Mr. Priest.” Priest couldn’t stop his amused grin from the words as he pushed his coffee to the side and mimicked the boy’s posture. Watching how the boy actually seemed excited about him engaging in the playful behavior. Like he wasn’t expecting it but was blatantly pleased with it.

“Sweetheart, you’re the one who’s clearly fallen in love with me.” He sat up, watching the way Dirk rolled his eyes. “Bein’ all concerned and caring, it’s kind of cute.” He teased watching the way the boy actually flushed from that looking like he was about to stand up for himself. But Priest already turned his attention to Todd who he playfully nudged. “See, told you I was charmin’, your boyfriend don’t want me to leave.” Dirk huffed from that while sitting up straighter in his chair. Having a more serious expression on his face as he spun the little decorative milkshake glass.

“Mr. Priest,” He gave the boy his full attention from his now serious tone. “I just think maybe you’re supposed to be with us? I mean...” He was looking around before motioning at him. “By all accounts, we finished the case, right?” He asked and Priest tapped his foot on the ground as the boy looked around like he was waiting for someone to show up. “We have the crystal, solved the mystery of what happened with it, that the crystal belongs to Mr. Friedkin and all that.” Priest was starting to understand where the boy was going with this when he turned his full attention to him. “But... you know who I don’t see to come get you and the crystal?” He watched as the boy leaned in again and cupped his hands over his mouth like he was about to tell a secret. “Hugo.”

“No offense, but Osmund isn’t a stray cat we’re picking up off the street and taking into our home, Dirk.” Todd pitched in while looking at him. Honestly, Priest would agree, he didn’t like the idea of having to continue to play babysitter for them, it sounded like a pain in the ass. “Honestly... ‘keeping him’ sounds like a terrible idea.” Todd eventually stated to finish his thought process on the matter.

“Startin’ to sound like an item for you guys to toss around there, Todd.” Priest mused the words over his coffee cup getting an eyeroll from the man who worked on drinking his own coffee.

“Kind of wish it was that literal so we could just lock you up somewhere when you no longer served your purpose.” Priest was grinning while lowering his coffee cup, running his tongue over the split in his lip and playing with the wound before he giggled.

“Todd, at this rate, startin to think you just like seein’ me in handcuffs. Guess that’s how you make up for the whole five minutes thing you subject poor Dirk too, yeah?” He arched a brow at him getting a rather flustered response by the boy who slammed his coffee cup down on the table as Priest continued to giggle. He could see Farah out of the corner of his eye just rubbing her forehead with a resigned sigh.

“You-”

“Look,” They all looked over to Farah and Priest couldn’t help but notice Dirk was actually trying to stifle a laugh from the banter going on. “Despite our differences, and infighting, Priest has made this case go by pretty smoothly, even with the random hiccups of getting caught by Blackwing. He might actually be more useful for us down the line, and the fact he has a team linked to someone with Home Land Security might actually be beneficial.” So logical, he honestly really found himself liking Miss Black the more he got to know her. Definitely was the one thing that made all this bullshit bearable.

“Okay but Blackwing is a problem now with him being here.” Todd motioned wildly at him. “They’re not going to stop looking for him. They’re going to keep coming into our lives, and we’re not exactly hiding. And now that Calitri guy knows that if he hurts us he can immobilize Osmund here. Which then makes him pretty useless don’t you think?” Priest just arched a brow before giving a small giggle.

“Look, eventually they’re going to give up on trying to capture me because I’m going to continue to get away. Eventually they will just monitor me like we’ve been doin’ to you since after Bergsberg.” He stated flatly while leaning back in the booth, crossing his ankle over his knee and putting his arm across the back so it was behind Farah. “It will just take a while, and be annoyin’ but they’ll want to stop losing their men.” He stated rather confidently and blinked when Dirk leaned in.

“Wait... Back up just a little. Did you just say Blackwing has been monitoring us since Bergsberg?”

“Oh yeah, you, Sheriff Hobbs, Deputy Teventino... Makin’ sure they follow their silence agreement, and that you guys don’t get into anything too crazy.” He watched how the boy sat up and gripped at the table they were sitting at. “I know the scientists had been having so much fun watching your abilities in the field.” He mused out watching as the boy looked away to stare out the window.

“I thought-”

“You know how Blackwing is, Dirk, they like to hold on to things that are theirs.”

\---

It was a while before they finally reached Cheryl’s house given she was the next state over... and Dirk kept insisting on making silly little stops on the way. He wasn’t sure if the boy was trying to delay them getting the crystal to Cheryl or if this was just normal behavior. But from Farah and Todd acting unbothered by it, he guessed it was normal.

They all got out and stretched before Priest grabbed the box with the crystal in it. Dirk lead the way to the door and knocked on it patiently while waiting for the woman to answer the door. Which felt like it took a while before a little old lady answered and smiled at them. Seeing the box, she opened the door all the way and invited them inside.  

“Please, put it there.” Priest set the box down where she instructed and opened it for her to see, she looked happy before moving to pull a necklace she was wearing off. “It’s almost complete.” She stated causing Priest to give her an annoyed look. He wasn’t expecting it to have any more fragments missing, it looked complete to him. But Cheryl was already slipping a piece of cloth off of her necklace to reveal a small black fragment on the chain which she held out directly to Priest.  

“Great, any more fragments we have to chase down?” He looked at it as he grabbed it, holding it in his hand before looking to the large crystal, all while slipping the chain off of it. Stepping over to the crystal he examined it closely to see where it belonged he noticed a small hole near the base of it. He slowly slipped the crystal into place and felt frozen from touching it. Like his hand was locked on it as it seized around the crystal. He gave a cry in pain as he collapsed on his knees, could see the trio move closer only for Cheryl to move and motion for them to stay back.

“You needn’t worry.” She stated calmly, Priest felt a rush of energy as he could feel the crystal digging inside of his hand. The pain fading as he watched it absorb itself into his mark, which honestly was extremely painful. He couldn’t think about anything other than the feeling of his mark absorbing the crystal, making his nerves burn, and then freeze in quick succession. He was panting by the time it was done, when the mark seemed to have devoured the crystal. He grunted as is hand slid off the table and he ended up just sitting there on his knees. Clutching his hand to his chest and trying to process what all just happened. Blinking a few times before sitting up and looking at his hand where he could see the brand clear as day. A bright blue light cracking down the middle of his hand, he eyed it for a moment before looking up at the trio who looked slightly horrified from what just occurred.

“A little warning would have been nice!” He snapped in Cheryl’s direction as he forced himself up off the floor, looking to his hand with slight annoyance before glancing back at the old woman who just laughed and waved a hand dismissively.

“That kind man said you probably wouldn’t put the crystal together if you knew.” He grit his teeth from that, he was definitely going to punch Hugo the next time he saw him.

“What did it do?” He glanced to Dirk to see if he could see what he saw originally when he held the crystal, it was there, just not as obnoxious as it was earlier. Like he had to focus on it to actually see it, he slowly looked back to his hand wondering if Hugo did this on purpose... And why give him this-

“Oh, I have no idea, dear... Now, would you lovely folks like some tea, or coffee?” He watched as Dirk stepped closer and held a hand out to him. He looked at it before grunting and holding his branded hand out to him. Watching as Dirk looked it over with interest, before slowly looking up to his face.

“Mr. Priest... I’m not entirely sure this is a good thing?” He was curious why he thought that as he looked back to his hand. Narrowing his eyes on it as the boy looked higher up his arm while Cheryl set about getting tea and coffee ready anyway.

“What makes you say that?” Wasn’t appreciating how ominous he was coming off right now from that comment. Dirk just slouched while slowly releasing his hand, like he wasn’t completely sure how to word what was wrong with him having absorbed the crystal. Besides, it’s not like he did it on purpose, Hugo clearly set him up for this wonderful little-

“Your eyes are different.” He narrowed his eyes on him from that.

“Different how?” He looked to the other two who were staring at him, curious what happened now for them to be looking at him like that.

“Like Hugo’s... only they're still the same color blue, your irises are just very misshapen.” Well, wasn’t that just great, another identifier for him to have.

“Great.” Sarcasm heavy in his voice as he walked over to take a cup of coffee from Cheryl before drowning it in sugar and creamer. Wondering what would happen next as he began drinking it and ignoring the others, just hoping Hugo would at least pick him up or something. “Hugo tell you anything else, Cheryl?” He asked as the woman drank some tea, which Dirk eventually helped himself to as Farah and Todd drank coffee.

“Nope, just asked me to give you the last crystal fragment.” He sighed from that while finishing his cup of coffee. He couldn’t help but eye the phone she had connected to the wall in the dining room they stood in. Wondered if it would be safe to call Pete from here or if he should wait till they were somewhere else...

“Well, I guess we should head home then.” Dirk finally stated while shifting in his spot, he glanced over at the boy taking note he saw him staring at the phone. Wondered if he was trying to prevent him from wanting to call this Pete character or if he actually just wanted to go home. He bit his bottom lip, dragging his teeth over the wound on it before setting his cup down.

“Before we go... Cheryl, can I use your phone?” He asked while turning to look at the woman, he could see Farah moving between him and the phone now. Obviously, she wasn’t liking the idea of him calling Pete from here, which he supposed might be because they didn’t want to put Cheryl in any danger. That seemed like the only logical thing he could think of.

“I think you should wait on that, Priest, now isn’t exactly a good time, especially since we have no idea what the crystal might be doing to you.” He looked at his hand from the statement, didn’t think it was altering him mentally anyway. Physically though... well he still felt a nice surge of energy inside of him and now he could see things around Dirk and Todd that weren’t actually there if he stared long enough. He just didn’t understand why Hugo wanted to give him this. Why he felt the need to have him take the crystal into his body, or why he needed to see the things he was seeing. Was it going to help him? Change him even more? He wished the asshole would show up and explain himself, but he sighed while dropping his hand to his side.

“Fine.” He watched Dirk say his goodbyes to Cheryl who wrote him a check and kissed him on the cheek before sending them out the door. He tilted his head at the car where he could see a massive ever-changing blur around it as they slowly headed over to it and climbed in. Once more plugging in the phone to turn on the music as Farah began driving them back toward what he assumed was the agency. Which from the signs they kept passing he knew was a long trek away from their current position.

“Do you feel any different?” He could hear Dirk asking from the back seat, he glanced back at him before looking ahead with a small sigh.

“Yeah... seein shit too.” He muttered the last part under his breath which just had Dirk leaning more on the center console with obvious interest.

“Come on, Mr. Priest, you could at least give some details.” He sighed while crossing his arms over his chest before moving his hand to look at it again.

“Well for starters, I can actually see my brand now... And I think I can see your guys’ abilities. You have a lot of letters and numbers swarming around your head. Todd looks like he’s surrounded by fire, and Mona... well Mona’s got a shadow around her that’s constantly changing forms.” Dirk was leaning back slightly and when he glanced at him he could see a look of awe on the boy’s face.

“That’s so... interesting... And the feeling?” He wasn’t exactly sure how he should describe that, the only word he had right now was ‘powerful’ and even that didn’t seem like the right word to use.

“Power... I feel power, like there’s this force inside of me that’s thriving with energy. Honestly, it’s the same rush I get while killing people... but it’s constant.” He stated while running his thumb along his wrist where he could see the light gently fading into him.

“That’s unnerving.” He could hear Todd state and he couldn’t stop his giggle from that as he looked back out the window.

“When do we plan on stopping?” Priest finally asked, figured they should work on their game plan.

“I’m not entirely sure stopping anywhere is a good idea. They might be waiting for our information to surface for our location, and you’re still wanted. I was thinking we could drive in shifts, when I get too tired to drive you can take over, then Todd, and... Dirk... if you promise to drive normally than you can also be in the rotation.” She stated and Dirk gave her a mock offended look.

“Farah, I am the best driver out of all of us.” Priest rolled his eyes from that comment, he didn’t really have an opinion though. Seeing as when Dirk did drive them he was in and out of consciousness the whole time and couldn’t actually enjoy the ride.

“If by best driver you mean worst driver. Then yeah... I’ll agree.” Todd stated in a joking manner getting an eyeroll from the boy.

“You didn’t think I was a bad driver, did you, Mr. Priest?”

“I was in the middle of bleeding out so I’m probably not the best judge.” He mused to the boy who feigned defeat as he fell back in the seat with a dramatic sigh while slinging his arm over his forehead.

“Betrayed.” He stated in an over dramatic tone causing Priest to just grin as he glanced back at the boy in the mirror. “Here I hoped you would be on my side, and you just... didn’t take any side actually... I feel like that is somehow worse than actually choosing a side, Mr. Priest.”

“What can I say, I’m a bad man.”

“The absolute worst.” Dirk pipped in before laughing while sitting up to get comfortable in his seat.

“You know... we could pay for a cheap motel in cash, they don’t usually ask questions or put any information in when you pay in cash.” Priest offered getting an eyebrow raise from Farah.

“That could work... you’ll have to stay in the car though.” He nodded his head at that while looking out the window with a soft sigh.

“Can we get two rooms?” Dirk was leaning in now, he glanced back at the boy who was rubbing his chin.

“Can we get three rooms instead?” The boy finally asked, he could see the playful look on his face that he gave to Todd and couldn’t stop his amused smile. 

“Not comfortable enough to fuck with Miss Black in the room?” He asked in amusement getting an annoyed grunt from both Todd and Farah.

“Not that it’s any of your business, but no, Mr. Priest, I am perfectly fine not subjecting Farah to us copulating.” Priest couldn’t stop himself form giggling at the statement.

“Boy, I think you’re the only person I know who can make talking about sex sound boring.”

“I don’t make it sound boring!” Dirk insisted, Priest arched a brow while glancing back at him, amused smile on his face all the while.

“Of course not.” Teasing, watching how the boy almost appeared to take it as a challenge as he opened his mouth to retort only for Todd to clasp his hand around Dirk’s face. “Aw, thought I was going to get some entertainment before bed.” He mused the words out before looking back ahead, leaning down further in his seat while watching as Farah eventually started to head to a Motel 6 that was there.


	10. Wolf in Sheeps Clothing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While Dirk and Todd unwind from the case in their own way. Priest has a talk with Hugo which leads to some fun of his own. Priest takes a nice run to let out pent up energy and ends up having a visit with someone who is more than willing to exploit his weakness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Characters** : Osmund Priest. Farah Black. Todd Brotzman. Dirk Gently. Hugo Friedkin. Ken Adams.  
>  **Warnings** : Hearing sex from another room. Kink (mainly hitting (majority with a belt), mild knife play, and choking.). Bondage (with tentacles). Finger Fucking/Hand Job. Sex. Rimming. Priest’s POV  
>  **Note** : Here I am. Having nice steamy sex scenes followed by really intense scenes.  
> Also for the mood setting of meeting the big bad.  
> Please feel free to start “4th of July” by Soundgarden at “Roscoe”  
> ALSO. People who do not follow me on tumblr. Pete's FC is Bobby Cannavale. Mainly Bobby Cannavale from Mr. Robot.

Priest waited in the car as Farah, Todd and Dirk went in to get their rooms. He leaned back in the seat waiting patiently before the three of them rejoined him. Dirk handing him a room key card as they got out to get their bags and headed to their rooms. Mona turning back into the nervous Pete doll which Farah took to her room, Dirk and Todd said their goodnights as they headed into their own. And Priest was thankful with the fact he was trusted alone as he walked into his room and dropped his bags down. Walking passed the bed and heading right into the bathroom to take a shower.  

He was already dreaming of the idea as he stripped out of his clothes and removed the bandages he had before climbing into the shower. Turning it on to the hot and immediately regretting it from the burn on his leg, arm, and hand. He cursed as he turned the water down which felt so cold now against hit body but still almost unbearably hot against the burns. He sighed to himself before finally turning the water back up again. Deciding to just fight through the pain as he washed the dirt, blood, and grime off his body.

Taking his time to enjoy the shower as he smiled to himself from the giggling coming from the room next to him. He tilted his head as he glanced towards the wall behind him, hearing what sounded like a moan as he finally turned off the shower. Stepping out to grab a towel he worked on taking care of his wounds and checking to make sure the work on his nose was still in order. He slowly headed back into the main area of the room flinching when he heard someone clear their throat he looked over to see Hugo sitting in a chair, smile on the man’s face.

“You got the crystal!” He announced happily, Priest glared at him and walked over, grabbing the man by his tie as he yanked him up into a standing position.

“You!” He shook him before punching the man hard across the face. Just watching him blink as he moved his hand to touch his cheek with an actual offended look on his face. Like  _HE_ had something to be mad about.

“Wow, like... a thank you totally would have sufficed.” He turned and slammed the man into the wall of the motel, stepping up close to him with a growl as he gripped his suit tight. Panting a bit from the pain surging in his leg from all the weight he was putting on it. “Mr. Priest-”

“Thank you!? Why the fuck should I thank you!” He snapped the words at him. “I mean what the  _fuck_ , Hugo! You could have warned me that the mark would like... Eat? The crystal!” He shouted in annoyance watching as the man raised his hands half up in surrender. Nodding slightly while eyeing his hand with a pleased smile. Like the little fucker was so proud of himself, god, he wanted to punch his pretty little face into nothing.

“I figured you like... wouldn’t want to uhh... touch it? If you knew?”  _Damn right he didn’t want to touch it._  He stared at him, slowly giggling before he moved and punched him again, mind barely registering the fact he actually managed to hit the boy rather hard into the wall. He could feel a rush of power surging through him from the little noise the man made from getting punched. He looked up at him, noticing Hugo eyeing him as he rested his hands on his shoulders. Biting his bottom lip and having a look on his face like the man was getting off on this. He slowly pulled him off the wall before shoving him into it, stepping closer so his body was pinning Hugo’s against the wall. He pressed a hand on either side of his head as Hugo just looked him in the eyes.

“What did it do?” He finally asked even with the rage boiling under the surface.  

“It will be like good for you.” He rolled his eyes at that while stepping away from him finally moving towards the bed while pulling off his towel. Blinking when he felt the man touch his hips, he let his eyes drop to the boy’s hands as he felt his chest pressing against his back. “You’ll like...  _really_ like what it does.” He took in a sharp breath when the boy grabbed his hand, pressing his thumb into the brand. He pressed back against him to stable himself, knees feeling weak with the intense pleasure and heat in his groin.

“My- my eyes going to stay all... all weird?” He turned his head watching as Hugo pulled his hand to his face, nuzzling his mouth against it and kissing along the brand. Priest moved his free hand to grab on to Hugo’s hip as he stepped back against him. Giving a shaky breath as the boy just continued to mouth at the brand, sending those intense electric sparks through his body. He could feel his cock twitching, and hearing Dirk and Todd in the other room wasn’t helping.

“No... they like shouldn’t you’re still absorbing the crystal, that will like stop when you’re done?” He didn’t sound so sure of himself causing Priest to lean his head back with an annoyed grunt as he felt Hugo kissing along his shoulders now instead, even playfully nipping at his skin. He moved his hand to grab Hugo’s wrist, pulling the boy in front of him and shoved him down on the bed. Watching Hugo just smile up at him as he climbed on the bed and straddled the boy’s lap. He moved his hands to his shoulders and shoved him down while leaning over him.

“What’ll it do?” He asked, wanting to know as the boy shifted under him to get comfortable. He could feel the man’s hands touching his arm and sliding his fingers down it like he was tracing the blue light that was glowing inside of his veins.

“It’s like... part of me?” He asked like he was supposed to know what that meant. 

“I’m not going to sprout tentacles, am I?” He asked with amusement while pulling his arm away from Hugo who just smiled at him.

“No. Nothing like that. You’ll like... Well... okay... It like totally uhm... amplifies your abilities?” He blinked at him with interest as he sat up higher on his knees. Watching Hugo prop himself up on his elbows as his eyes scanned down his body. “You will be like  _totally_ stronger, faster too... You might need to like... practice with that so you don’t like hurt people when the crystal fully absorbs. And then like you can see the others abilities? So, you’ll know what to do better. I know you like get mad at the universe a lot when the feelings you get aren’t as like clear. So, I uh, I thought you would uhh, like it? Plus, since you like  _totally_ work for me now I figured it would like help me out too.” He couldn’t quite explain why he always felt as irritated as he did when Hugo brought up that he worked for him.

“Right.” He muttered in obvious annoyance.

“So, like... yeah... You’re welcome?” The boy completely oblivious to his resentment. But... it did sound useful... He moved his hands to Hugo’s tie, starting to pull it off the boy as he moved to shove him back down. Hand’s sliding down to Hugo’s wrists to grab them and pin them up above his head. He watched as Hugo watched him with interest. Priest worked on tying the boy’s wrists together as he moved his hands to grab Hugo’s shirt. Ripping it open as the boy bit his bottom lip, even with his misshapen eyes he could see his pupils beginning to dilate. Wondered what else the boy would let him do aside from apparently beating him and tying him up-

“My safe word is Cinnamon.” He couldn’t stop his smile from that, although annoyed that Hugo seemed to be reading his mind. He was pleased with the information as well as he moved his hands to Hugo’s pecs and shoved him harder into the bed.

“Cinnamon, huh?” He massaged the balls of his hands into his pressure points, watching Hugo lean his head back with a soft noise. “That’s cute.”

“It’s a good safe word.” The boy stated while pouting his lips at him. Priest watched him before moving and punching the boy hard in the chest, enjoying the little grunt and whine that followed.  

“What all do you like?”

“I uh... I think... what I don’t like is a shorter list?” He asked with a smile up at him, obviously playful as Priest grinned at that and punched him again.

“Go on, boy.” He growled the words down to him while getting off the bed and pulling out a knife from his bag.

“Well, like... Clearly all my body parts have to stay attached. Uhhh, I’m not a fan of the whole strangling thing? Like I’m totally fine strangling you, but like I had a bad experience once and am a little jumpy? No like... Water sports, or scat play or things like that... and uhhh... obviously I have to be alive-”

“Ain’t ya technically dead?” Doubted he could even try to kill him, after all he shot him point blank in the head and he just looked disappointed about it. He watched as the boy stared at the ceiling and blinked for a bit before laughing.

“Oh yeah.” He rubbed his face, curious how the boy forgot that he was dead.

“So basically, I can beat ya, as much as I want?” He asked while getting back on the bed, cutting away at the boy’s clothes and watching him shudder every time he dragged the knife against his skin. Leaning down to kiss along the goosebumps that were starting to form.

“Yeah... I mean... I’ll like... safe word out if I need to? I’m like a uh big fan of RISK aware...”  _Oh, that was perfect._  He grinned while massaging his knuckles into his pressure points again and watching him squirm, punching his other pec as the boy gave a cute whine. Watching the way he grabbed at the sheets of the hotel bed. Biting his lip and leaning his head back, looked so cute like this for him. He rubbed the palm of his hands against his chest this time, massaging the meat of his hands into his abused skin before slapping his hand down on it. Bringing the knife up to his throat and listening to his cute little moan from the blade pressing under his jawline. Forcing his head back, looking so pretty and exposed to him.

“Like stingy or thuddy better?” He mused the question out as he rubbed his hand over where he hit.

“Both.” Hugo muttered while moving his bound hands to push them against his chest. Like he was trying to get away, Priest couldn’t stop his giggle as he caught the boy’s bound wrists.

“Both, huh? Shame I lost my toy collection in Blackwing.” Hugo was laughing at that as Priest pinned his hands back down above his head. He watched the boy lean up and kiss and nip at his chest as Priest dragged the knife down his body. Being careful not to cut him as he bit his bottom lip and gently rocked his hips against Hugo’s groin.

“Don’t-don’t worry, Mr. Priest, I can get you a new toy collection.” Priest gave an amused hum while forcing a leg between Hugo’s slowly rutting it up against him as he listened to his moan. Feeling the hot breath against his chest as the boy eventually laid down and arched his back. He definitely should see if he could talk the boy into wearing something other than a suit. Had such a nice body hidden away, such a waste...

“Goin’ to fill it with toys you like getting hit with?” He teased him as Hugo gave out a small little giggle, squirming under him and rocking his groin down on his thigh.

“Obviously.”

“Obviously, he says.” Priest was amused by it though as Hugo shifted and looked up at him.

“Should I fill it with things you like getting hit with too, Mr. Priest?” Priest bit his bottom lip while thinking it over, wasn’t sure he could trust Hugo with that. He seemed like he knew what he was talking about but at the same time the boy was an absolute moron.

“No.” Plus he wasn’t sure if he would run into another person he would even want to do something like that with. He was too picky with people he would submit to that kind of thing with, and he was hoping that after this Hugo would just kind of take him with him. He slowly slid the knife back in it’s sheathe and set it off to the side for now. Sliding his hands down the boy’s torso, hands moving to his belt which he undid before yanking through his belt loops. He put it over his shoulder for now as he grabbed Hugo by the bicep and roughly forced him over on his stomach, hand moving to the back of his neck as he shoved him into the bed.  

“Belt good with you?” He purred the words down to him while forcing a leg between Hugo’s, kneeing him hard, and repeating the action to get him up on his knees in the position he wanted. He listened to the little whines and watched him claw at the sheets before sliding his hand down his back. Rubbing it like it was an apology.

“Belts-belts are totally fine.”

“Good, because I was going to use it anyway.” Hugo pouted at him over his shoulder.

“Then why even ask?” Priest just smiled at him while moving his free hand to the boy’s button and zipper getting them undone before roughly tugging his pants and boxers down. He ran his hand over his ass, kneading and grabbing it before slamming his hand down on it. Listening to the cute little yelp he gave as he clawed at the blankets some more. He glanced up towards the wall where he was sure Dirk and Todd’s bed mirrored his own as he could hear their little moans better from the bed.

“Think you can muffle yourself, or do I have to gag you?” Really didn’t want them to hear Hugo crying out and think something was happening and come over to investigate. It sounded really annoying, and he was fine not having any of the trio walking in on him while he’s trying to fuck again. Hugo was nodding as Priest pulled the belt off his shoulder, folding it in half before smacking him on the ass with it. Listening to the way it cracked as Hugo gripped at the bed and muffled himself by moaning into the sheets.

“Might just gag you anyway, I’m sure you look cute in one.” Teasing tone as he smacked him on the thigh this time. Watching him jolt forwards with a yelp given he didn’t warm up the skin there. He hit adjusted his own position, hand moving to the back of his neck to keep him down as he hit him again. Watching how he grabbed at the sheets and moaned into the bed, hips lifting up for him and even pressing them back. Like he was waiting for more, Priest grinned at that while hitting him again, and again. Enjoying his little reactions as he squirmed and wiggled his hips.

“You-ah-” Hitting him again as he tried to speak. “You going to uh, fuck me this time?” He watched as Hugo glanced back at him and tilted his head. He was sure he could, he was worked up enough, but he never actually enjoyed doing the actual fucking. He hit him with the belt again before running his thumb over the pretty little welts he had on his ass and thigh.

“Figured I would ride you into the bed when I was done.” He couldn’t stop his amused smile from the sigh in almost relief Hugo gave. “What’s that for?” He teased while hitting him again. Going for the other side this time as he watched him jolt forwards and squirm under him. He moved his hand from the back of his neck to between his shoulder blades as Hugo worked on catching his breath.

“I just... You seem like the type to fuck people how you like to be fucked. And like you’re not exactly the most patient person from what I’ve seen. And I like it to like... feel good not like hurt?” He couldn’t stop his giggle as he smacked the boy on the ass with the belt again, seeing him actually bite into the blankets this time while pressing his hips back against him.

“Yet you like being beat.”

“That-that is completely different. I would rather you not fuck me into oblivion because you’re impatient.” He grinned while smacking him on the ass again, listening to the pretty moan as Hugo worked on fighting his bindings. “And you seem like the type to just; ‘well I can take it, so can you.’ and like it’s been a while and I’m not ready for you to roughly shove two fingers inside of me for like ten seconds before deciding that’s enough and replacing it with your cock.” He actually laughed at that one, hitting him harder this time, enjoying the pretty cry of pain he gave as he moved both hands to the boy’s ass. Grabbing and squeezing it before slapping his hand down on the welts.

“Well now you got my interest piqued.” He gave a surprised noise when he was thrown down on to his back, taking a second to place what just happened as Hugo’s hands forced his thighs apart. He glanced up at him before looking up to his wrists to see the boy’s tendril things holding his wrists down as Hugo settled so comfortably between his legs. He could see another one going for his bag, he couldn’t stop the amused smile while shifting on his back. “Come on, Hugo, I’m sure your little brand will stop me from actually hurting you.” Teasing tone, which was replaced with a moan when Hugo began rubbing his tentacles against the brand. He gripped it tightly to try and stop it. Biting his bottom lip with a soft whine as he leaned his head back and squirmed.

“I find myself enjoying you like this.” He could feel his face get hot from that as he listened to Hugo opening up a bottle of lube. He arched his hips for him while spreading his legs, panting to catch his breath from the stimulation to his brand. His whine turning into a moan from feeling Hugo pressing a finger into him, he tightened up out of instinct while rocking his hips down against his hand. “I understand why Ken-”

“Don’t talk about that asshole, and just fuck me.” Priest growled the words while glaring up at him. Hugo gave a low hum and Priest leaned his head back with a whimper when Hugo just slowly added a second finger.

“I dunno, Mr. Priest, maybe you should take it slow for once.” He didn’t have time for that- He turned his head and moaned into his arm from Hugo curling his fingers into his prostate. Stretching him and scissoring them inside of him as he lowered his hips. Legs moving to wrap around his waist as he tried to pull Hugo closer to him, but the man wasn’t giving. He grunted when he just continued to slowly finger fuck him in a way that was already driving him crazy.

“I don’t like sl-ah-” He gripped the tentacle tighter as it kept pressing into his brand, eyes closing tight as he leaned his head back. Mouth hanging open as he locked his ankles behind Hugo’s back. Eyes fluttering open as the boy’s free hand slid up then down his thigh, grabbing his ass and spreading him more apart as he added a third finger.

“You look like you like slow.” He growled from that statement, tightening up around him, feeling like he might already cum from this alone. Not that he minded if he did, he would let Hugo continue to fuck him. Anything to feel mindless and good as he continued to roll his hips down on his hand. One leg moving to plant his foot into the bed again. Trying to make Hugo go faster with it as the man’s hand moved off his ass and over his hip to wrap around his cock. Slowly stroking him off in time with his fingers and the stimulation to the brand. He was squirming and giving heavy moans as Hugo leaned over him and kissed along his chest. Biting and nipping at the skin. He bit his bottom lip trying to muffle himself as he could feel his cock twitch in the boy’s hand, squirming from how much he was pressing his fingers into his prostate.

“Fu- Hugo- wait-” He could feel his eyes fluttering, it was too much he was going to—He arched his back, hips thrusting mindlessly against the boy’s hands as he came across his own stomach. Tightening around the boy’s fingers as Hugo just kept rubbing them into his prostate. He was panting as he slowed his hips down and collapsed into the bed. Head leaning back as he worked on catching his breath, knees moving to press against the boy’s sides as Hugo continued to jerk him off and finger him. The overstimulation making him whimper and squirm, unintentionally pressing himself more into his hands.

“And you said you didn’t like slow.” The words were purred into his ear. He slowly opened his eyes while panting, giving a small grumble as the boy began kissing down his chest and stomach. Lapping up the cum that was their while moving his hands to his hips, Priest gave a soft noise when he could feel the boy’s lubed up cock rutting against his ass. Like he was waiting to see if it was okay to continue, Priest shifted to open his legs wider for him while pressing himself down on his groin. “Do you need to rest, Mr. Priest-”

“Don’t you dare fucking stop now.” He snapped the words down at him while looking into the boy’s face, seeing the way Hugo just smiled at him before sliding his hand between them to line himself up. Slowly pressing into him, Priest leaned his head back with a heavy moan from how hot he felt inside of him. Almost burning as he squirmed and forced his hips against him only for Hugo to slowly pull back so he wasn’t as deep inside of him. “You don’t-don’t have to go slow.” Voice feeling a little slurred from riding the afterglow of his orgasm.

“Mr. Priest, I’m going to fuck you better than anyone has before.” Hearing the words purred into his ear had him whimpering as the man slowly started to thrust into him. Angling his hips just right that with each slow rock forwards he was pressing into his prostate. He bit his bottom lip while starting to fight against the tentacles holding him. Wanting to touch Hugo, to grab on to him and shove him down on his back and just ride him into the bed till he couldn’t move anymore. His breath was catching with each thrust though, he turned his hands to grab at the sheets.  

Lifting his hips up more as Hugo’s hands slid down to his lower back. Holding him up as he continued to rock into him. The pace Hugo set had Priest squirming, trying to press his hips down on him as the boy mouthed and sucked and kissed along his nipple. He was writhing from the sensations, giving soft moans and whimpers between hitched breaths. Clawing at the sheets as he finally looked down to him with heavy eyes.

“Let... let me up?” Hugo was just smiling and moaning against him. Priest grinned when the tentacles let go of him and retracted into the man’s back. He forced himself up, sitting in the man’s lap as he moved his hands to his shoulders. Rocking himself down on him harder as he shoved him down on his back. Watching the way Hugo looked amused he gave a heavy sigh before roughly rolling his hips down on him. Rocking forwards and repeating the process, the smug look being replaced with a look of pure bliss. Eyes closing and mouth hanging open as Priest squeezed Hugo’s shoulders. He bit his bottom lip while eyeing his throat, hands moving to slide up to it and grab it. Tightening his hands around him to strangle him as he rode him. Only for those tentacles to wrap around his wrists.

“I said no choking. Remember?” He blinked when he was rolled over and forced on his back again. Hands pinned on the bed close to the headboard as Hugo just sighed at him. He would have to work on getting Hugo to trust him then, that was one of his favorite things to do- “Want me to do it to you?” He leaned his head back when Hugo’s moved to his throat, thumb and index finger pressing into the veins to block the circulation to his head. Making him feel even more light headed and floaty that it took him a second to realize he was fucking him again. But he wasn’t going slow this time, he could feel his toes curl as he wrapped his legs around him again. Letting Hugo choke him and seeing if he knew when to let up, which from how his hand moved from his neck to his chest he guessed the boy did have a good idea of what he was doing.

“You’re so hot with me inside of you.” Priest leaned his head back with a heavy moan as he scrapped his nails against the headboard. “The noises you make for me drive me crazy.” He shuddered from the words being purred in his ear as Hugo thrust into him harder, hitting his prostate perfectly with each rock of his hips. And rather effectively bouncing him up the bed, pressing him more into the tentacles holding his wrists down. He felt like he was choking on his own drool as he squirmed and whimpered and moaned almost helplessly from the feeling of everything. It didn’t help that Hugo’s hands exploring his body as he so easily restrained him in a way that almost made him feel exposed.  

He tightened his legs around his hips at the thought, tightening up around him just making everything feel more intense as he whined and squirmed. Feeling his cock twitching back to intention from the stimulation. He went back to fighting against his bindings while leaning in to bite at the man’s throat, listening to him moan from it. Hips rocking against Hugo to the best of his ability as he fought against the tentacles holding his wrists together and keeping him pinned to the bed.  

“I really missed such a good opportunity when I was your supervisor.” He could feel his face flushing as the man ran his thumbs along his nipples. Teasing them in a way that was making him squirm, arching his back and pressing himself more into the boy’s hands. Just wanting more friction from the teasing sensations. “We could have fucked all over Blackwing.” He moaned from the thought of that, wondering how things could have gone if he wrapped Hugo around his finger better by sleeping with him too.  

Though, he was finding himself getting increasingly frustrated how the man would stutter and stammer all over himself with fillers for normal conversation. Yet seemed to have no problem dirty talking him without interruption. He pulled hard on the tentacles just wanting him to let go, but the man apparently was too busy to understand what his struggling meant. His mind trying to piece the words together as Hugo continued to fuck him so good into the bed he could hardly breathe let alone speak.

“If you want me to let go, you have to promise not to try and strangle me.” Priest was just nodding to the statement, mind too foggy and far gone to argue as Hugo’s tentacles slowly let go of him. He moved his hands to the man’s back, scratching down them as he wrapped his legs around his hips. Grinding himself down on his cock mindlessly, feeling so close already as the boy just continued to fuck him. He tilted his head and kissed him roughly, biting at his tongue and lips, moaning into one another’s mouths as Hugo rested his hands by his head. He was whimpering into his mouth before leaning his head back with a deeper moan. Listening to the headboard hitting against the wall with each rock of Hugo’s hips.

He whimpered when Hugo finally slammed into him, the action sliding him up the bed as the boy started to grind into him. A few more rocks of his hips and he could feel Hugo cumming inside of him. The hot sensation filling him mixed with how much Hugo’s cock was twitching causing him to squirm as he came for a second time. Writhing under him as he dug his practically nonexistent nails into Hugo’s back. Mouth open for a silent moan as his muscles twitched and his eyes rolled back from the intensity of the orgasm. He eventually collapsed back down into the bed. Feeling Hugo slide out of him from the action. He gave a small whimper from feeling so empty, feeling his cum eventually trickle out of him didn’t help either.

“So... am... Am I coming back with you?” Priest finally asked, hand moving to wipe the sweat off his own forehead as Hugo just kissed and nipped along his chest.

“Not yet.” Priest slowly peaked one eye open to glare down at him as he moved to start sitting up only for Hugo to shove him back down.

“What do you mean not yet! Their case is over-”

“But they have someone waiting for them back at the agency.” Priest growled while slowly moving to prop himself up on his elbows.

“Who?”

“You’ll like... see when you like get there, duh, Mr. Priest.” He laid back down on the bed with an annoyed groan. Hands moving rub his own face as Hugo slowly sat up on his knees, dusting himself off and now wearing that suit of his again. He eyed it before reaching up and grabbing his tie, yanking him back down over him.

“You’re not done yet, boy.” He growled the words watching the way Hugo’s eyes dilated from the statement.

“Oh-oh? What... what do you mean.” He shoved the boy’s head down while moving his leg to press his foot on his shoulder as he shoved him down between his legs. Listening to the cute noise he made from the action, Priest glanced down at him and could see his eyes getting heavy.

“Clean up your mess.” He stated with a pleased smile, could already feel Hugo’s breath against his ass. Smile getting wider as Hugo laid on his stomach and slid his other arm under his other leg. Hands moving to his hips as Priest stepped on his back and raised his hips how Hugo wanted them. He bit his bottom lip as Hugo started to lap up at the cum dripping out of him. Tongue swirling around his hole before pressing into him, he closed his eyes with a soft moan. Hands moving to grip at the pillows by his head as he rocked himself against the boy’s mouth. Listening to the little hums and moans Hugo gave while eating him out, sending a nice wave of vibrations deep inside of him. He gave a disappointed groan when Hugo pulled away though. “I didn’t say you could stop.”

“As like... hot as this is, Mr. Priest.” He glanced down to watch him wipe his mouth off with the back of his hand. “I sadly have to go. I can like, eat you out later.” He gave an annoyed groan when Hugo slid out from under his feet and got up. “Bye.” He watched him disappear through the portal and grunted while leaning his head back, staring at the ceiling for a bit before looking at his hand. Thinking about what Hugo was saying about it. He took in a deep breath slowly forcing himself up out of the bed, stumbling a bit to the bathroom from how much his legs felt like jelly as he got in the shower. Turning it on to wash himself before heading out and getting dressed.

He checked the time before opening the door looking around and checking to make sure he had the key to it before heading out of the motel. Just wanting to go for a run to work off the energy he had from fucking, trying to think of who would be waiting for them at the agency. He made sure to take his run in darker and hidden areas, hoping not to be seen as he checked around him. Not wanting to get caught during his typical after sex run. He eventually came to a stop outside of a small diner that was still open, checking his wallet to see if he had enough for coffee before walking in. Ordering a cup as he sat down and drank it, all while working on his phone...

Well... Playing games on his phone. He glanced up when his peaceful moment was interrupted by someone sitting down across from him. He slowly glanced up to see Calitri who helped himself to a cup of coffee. Priest couldn’t stop his amused grin as he leaned back in the booth. Resting his arm over the back of it as he looked the man over. He looked tired but surprisingly wasn’t trying anything, just drinking his own cup of coffee with an amused smile on his face.

“Well, well, I guess you’re better at hunting people down than I thought.” The man just casually checked his watch before looking back at him.

“How’d you get passed the check point.” Priest clicked his tongue while leaning forwards and rested his elbows on the table.

“I mean, Hugo  _can_ teleport, why don’t you tell me.” He wondered if they were after Dirk, Todd, and Farah. He didn’t feel his brand going off any. He listened to Calitri sigh, watching him rub his eyes with obvious annoyance. “Rough night?”

“Why don’t you make this easier on all of us and just come with me.”

“You capture me, torture me, threaten me, and now just expect me to come back home with you?” He watched as the man sighed acting like he had something to be annoyed about.

“It would be better for both of us if you just listened for once.” He said it under his breath causing Priest to narrow his eyes on him. He could see something catching the man’s attention, how his eyes flashed to something behind him before he looked back to him. “Just get up, and come with me.”

“No.”

“Stubborn little-”

“Roscoe.” A new voice pierced through the air making Priest notice how quiet everything was around him. The man slowly moved to stand up.

“I warned you.” He said it under his breath taking his coffee cup with him as he moved to the side. He looked up when the other man who must have spoken to Calitri walked over, he stood a lot taller than both of them. Wearing a rather obnoxiously bright blue suit with a yellow buttoned up shirt and matching blue tie. The man just sat down while checking his glasses, cleaning them with a little white silk cloth before putting them on his face. Smile coming across it, Priest couldn’t help but notice the bad feeling he had as the man silently reached in his pocket and slid his phone across the table. He could see it loaded up on Ken’s number and he just stared at it as the man leaned in.

“He wants to talk to you.” The man stated, Priest looked back to him as he interlaced his fingers.

“And who the fuck are you?” Priest asked with narrowed eyes, the man just smiled while motioning to another agent in the room.

“Osmund Priest, I guess you like Mr. Priest, right?” He narrowed his eyes on him as the Agent stepped closer. “I’m a very patient man, Mr. Priest, I don’t mind sitting in this diner all night.” He announced with a friendly smile that was rubbing Priest wrong. “My patience is something you can thank, because it is why I’m not currently playing with the mystery trio.” Priest could feel a warning throb from that. “But I can change that.” He just snapped his finger and Priest turned his head to the agent that was close to them. Watching as they held and Ipad out which had live video feed of the motel. “I guess it’s a mystery quad now though? Right? Cause Miss Wilder is with you.” Priest ran his tongue over his bottom teeth, not liking this man at all.

“You tryin’ to scare me?” He mused the question out, getting a small laugh from the man across from him.

“Mr. Priest, although I applaud your resolve, why don’t you just call your boyfriend.” He watched as the man reached inside of his suit jacket to pull out a note pad and pen. Watching him lean back and cross his ankle over his knee. “Ex-Boyfriend I suppose? Forgive me, I don’t know if you two officially broke up. Then again if I were Ken I would consider it over when you tried to kill me.” Priest watched him flip open the notebook.

“Clearly he would rather become a crazy ex turned stalker.” Priest muttered with his own amused smile while taking a drink of his coffee.

“We all have our faults I suppose.” Priest drummed his fingers on the coffee mug.

“As I told Calitri, my current boss can teleport, trying to capture me is pointless.”

“You know... I figured you wouldn’t be bothered about the threat on your new squad, or one on yourself. Escaping our clutches so many times. More than the four with Agent Calitri here, I read your file, always did cause problems for Blackwing, don’t you, Mr. Priest?” He grit his teeth from that, hoping Ken would have destroyed his file for real since Scott clearly failed at that. “You know we’ll just bring your new little friends in, even Miss Black.” He mused the words out, looking so pleased with himself. “She does have a very impressive skill set, I’m sure after a while we can use her... you know, after helping her see how much she would benefit with Blackwing.” He watched him flip through the book some with a low hum while holding his pen to the book.

“Speaking of impressive women, Saanvi Deshmukh,” he hated the way her name rolled off his tongue. He found himself wanting to hit the man just for saying that name. “She’s an extraordinary woman.” Priest could feel his heart pounding in his chest. “I hear she buys her wife the most beautiful Hijabs.” He gripped his coffee cup as the man that sat across from him glanced at him over the notebook. “Now, I don’t believe in the current political climate we have... But you know it wouldn’t be too hard to claim she’s an ISIS spy. Using her wife’s intel from the CIA and giving it back to her people.” The man just closed the notebook. “Such a sad world we live in, no?” Priest grit his teeth from the threat.

“It would be so easy you know, just have to slip incriminating evidence into her house. Hell, I have enough contacts I probably won’t even have to do that. Just tell them about Missus Deshmukh’s allegiances and they would listen to my beck and call. Do whatever I say because I told them to, I’m good at that. You’ll learn that soon enough. I mean after all... even Monique listened to my threat and left you to rot.” He took in a deep breath, trying to stay calm and not let the man know that he actually was feeling protective over Desh. “I can get Saanvi involved to, claim she was willingly handing over the information... You know, some men... well... they do terrible things to beautiful women.” He reached out and picking up the phone. Hitting the call button and bringing it up to his ear, waiting patiently for the man to answer. “And they said you had no weaknesses.” 

Whoever this man was he swore he would kill him.

_\--”Mr. Priest, I’m glad you were able to find reason and talk to me.”_

“Uh-huh, who’s this four-eyed motherfucker in front of me?” He asked with a growl in his voice, glaring at the man who just smiled while lifting a hand to gently rub his finger over his mustache.

_\--”Doesn’t matter, now I’m going to ask you-”_

“Tired of losing men yet?” He mused the words, not taking his eyes off the man in front of him, who looked too relaxed. He slowly eyed the other agents when they moved, realizing the entire diner was empty and he never once saw them till they were surrounding him. He narrowed his eyes on the man who was just patiently waiting for their phone call to be done.

_\--”I know that Hugo Friedkin is helping you.”_

“Then you’ll know he’s going to get me out every time you catch me, Ken, stop wasting your time, and mine. I have things I have to do.” He could hear the man sigh on the other end of the line.

_\--”If you would listen to me for a second, you would see I understand that.”_  He rolled his eyes from the statement.

“Calitri told me to come with him I’m not buying you don’t want to just lock me up again.” He could see the man across from him smile wider as he finally looked away. Checking his watch, which allowed Priest to eye the man’s wedding ring. If he did anything to Desh he would hunt his family down and kill them personally.

_\--”I personally would love nothing more than to lock you up, Mr. Priest, however, I’m not delusional in thinking that it will be a possibility any time soon with Hugo helping you out._ ” He grunted at that while leaning back in his seat. “I’m willing to offer you a deal.”

“Let me guess, if I don’t take it than Rainbow-Bright here is goin’ to take me in?” He watched as the man across from him just laughed.

_\--”No. He’s going to keep you in line for me. You’re going to tell me everything I want to know, or Pete there will make things difficult.”_  Priest narrowed his eyes on the man in front of him.  _This guy was Pete?_  He took in a deep breath thinking it over while tapping his foot on the floor.  _“All I want to know is why you’re helping Icarus.”_  He grit his teeth, watching Pete write something in his notebook before slowly pulling the paper out. Taking his time getting the ripped-up paper off by the perforated line.

“Hugo told me to.” He stated through clenched teeth when the man slid the perfectly nice piece of paper over to him which said; Deshmukh would never forgive you for getting her wife taken away and tortured for information. Will she? “I’m stuck working for him through a deal I made to save my own life. First mission was to help Bart, then I was sent to help the Trio. And they’re still who I have to work for.”

_\--”See, that wasn’t so hard. Pete is going to keep in contact with you. And you will update him on everything Hugo is making you do.”_  He glared at the man as he began grinding his teeth together.

“And what do I get out of this deal?” He asked in annoyance, so far it just seemed like Blackwing would benefit from it.

_\--”Freedom... to an extent.”_

“Fuck you.” He hung up and slammed the phone down on the table. Pete just smiled at him and took the phone from him while standing up.

“Congratulations Mr. Priest, you are no longer a wanted man.” Pete announced while motioning to his men to follow him. He stopped at the entrance of the Diner, slowly turning to look at him with a large grin. “That can change whenever I feel like it. Right now, your freedom is a test of faith, but if you prove to be difficult, or do anything we don’t advise of... Well, your status is just one mouse click away from changing.” The man let out a small laugh. “Oh, and if that happens,” He stepped away from the door, tilting his head as he looked at him. “I’ll make sure Saanvi is brought in too. You know... for helping her wife by handing over international secrets.” He just waved at him, and Priest felt sick to his stomach when Pete finally left, the other agents following. Calitri stood there for a second before looking at him with a tired look on his face.

“If you didn’t pick up on it already. That’s your replacement.” He stated before leaving, Priest gripped his coffee mug so hard it actually broke. Startling him enough to stand up as he looked at the broken mug and coffee that was spilled all over the table before looking at his hand. Guessed that was the strength Hugo was talking about, he really didn’t feel like he was grabbing the mug that hard. He took in a deep breath and stepped out of the diner blinking when Pete just stood there leaning against a car with a smile on his face.

“Want a ride back to the motel?”

“No.” He stated while turning to walk away from him only to hear Pete open the passenger side door.

“That wasn’t a question.” He sounded so happy that Priest found himself irritated as he looked back to the man. Watching him carefully, not really sure what he would do if he didn’t get in, he took in a deep breath before reluctantly walking over to the car. Climbing in only for Pete to close his door for him as he walked around and got into the driver’s seat. They were silent for a moment before Priest motioned to his wedding ring. About to strike up conversation in order to get the information he wanted to turn Pete’s whole life upside down.

“Ah. Before you get any ideas, because I know  _exactly_ what kind of man you are, I’m not actually married.” He narrowed his eyes on him as Pete looked to ring and spun it around his finger. “Nah, I wear this as a way to connect with people, you know? People tend to trust you more if you can connect with them. Lie about family and kids and you can get them to tell you just about anything through swapping stories... I work too much to have a family.” He was laughing. “Never wanted one either.” He rolled his eyes while looking out the window wondering what lovely conversation they were going to have. “Now I heard through Agent Calitri that you got my number from his phone. You’ll use that to keep in contact with me. I expect you to call me of your own fruition twice a week. If you don’t, I will show up and force my way into your life.”

“I’m good at that! I feel Dirk and I could get along very well, which obviously, you’re not going to tell them who I am... Say Monique sent me. I know I told her not to get you off the list, but knowing her she’s been helping you anyway. I mean... Blackwing soldiers just let you right through that checkpoint...” Priest looked over at him and Pete just grinned. “Don’t act surprised, I got it all on camera. That was your rag-tag group of misfits weren’t it?” He didn’t want to answer the man was he watched them circle the motel for a while before pulling into the drive way. “A lot quieter than I was expecting. Or is this your response to anger?”

“You talk enough for the both of us.”

“Response to anger than.” He watched the man pull out his notebook and write something down before giving him the piece of paper all nice and folded. “That is a little gift from me to you. Good luck with your mission, Mr. Priest.” Priest slowly reached over and opened the door before getting out and slamming the door. Watching as Pete drove off before he looked to the paper in his hand. Slowly unfolding it to look at the address that was written there with the statement; ‘Say Pete sent you.’ He stared at it for a while before slipping the paper in his pocket and heading back to his room. Feeling exhausted as he shut and locked the door behind him before flopping down on the bed and staring at the ceiling. This was definitely going to complicate things...


	11. Broken as the Rest of Us

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After a quick stop and a long road trip, the gang finally gets settled back in Seattle. Dirk pries about a topic that has been bugging him, which leads to a conversation end that throws Priest for a fruit-loop. Eventually Hugo makes contact with Priest and the man learns exactly why his replacement is going to be a problem.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Characters** : Osmund Priest. Farah Black. Dirk Gently. Todd Brotzman. Mona Wilder. Hugo Friedkin.   
> **Warnings** : Road-trip. Mentions of Homophobia. Mentions of Internalized Homophobia. Mentions of Child Abuse. Convo with Big-Bad. Hints to Torture/Murder. Priest’s POV > Todd’s POV > Priest’s POV.   
> **Note** : Reference to the chapter “Little Birdy” in my story; “A Time Before”

Priest didn’t sleep much from everything that happened last night, he got at least an hour before he woke up to a knock on his door. He didn’t respond to it just laid there and continued to ponder the same thoughts he had before he actually managed to get some sleep. That Pete was going to make this all very difficult. And he was still hung up about what the man had said to him. After all, although Priest knew Pete said not to tell the quad who he was when he showed up. He figured it would be obvious as time went on, besides, the man didn’t even tell him what fake name to use for him. He took in a deep breath and slowly let it out hoping whoever knocked wouldn’t just come in or something in case it was housekeeping. He just stared at the ceiling as there was another knock on the door. 

More persistent this time.

“Priest, we’re getting ready to head out.” He sighed heavily from Farah’s voice, finally forcing himself to get out of the bed.

“One second.” He called back to her going through his bag and throwing on a new pair of clothes. Wearing a black T-Shirt with a coyote skull on it and a pair of black jeans he finished tying his boots at the ankles before picking up his bags and heading out of the room. Seeing Farah waiting for him he slowly looked around surprised he didn’t see Todd and Dirk anywhere.

“Didn’t sleep?” She arched her brow and Priest gave an amused smile.

“Nice way of saying I look like shit, Miss Black.” He couldn’t stop his giggle as he walked passed her and she trailed after him as they headed to the parking lot. “You also look like you didn’t sleep very well.”

“Well, between Dirk, Todd, you and, I am assuming, Hugo it was hard to sleep until Mona turned into a pair of ear plugs for me.” He was actually amused by her comment despite the lack of sarcasm in her voice, always so serious, which honestly just made the whole thing that much more amusing.

“Uh-huh.” He mused out getting a heavy sigh from the woman. He couldn’t stop his little giggle as he rubbed the back of his neck. “I got something to tell you guys about last night.” Not like he had any loyalty to Blackwing anyway, he didn’t see why it mattered or not if they knew who the man was... but then again, he could go after Desh just to be a fucking asshole. He bit his tongue while really thinking it over. “More of I guess I have somewhere I have to go. All I got is an address.” He looked to Mona who was in car form and loaded up his bags before climbing in. Pulling out the piece of paper he got he loaded it into his phone, watching it load up on the maps to see it was close.

“Hugo sending you here?” Farah asked he just gave a heavy sigh, figuring he would play it out that way for now. Knew eventually they would learn the truth and he could deal with the backlash from that later, but right now he actually needed to play this smart. He didn’t want to piss off someone who knew about his only weakness. Which he was really hating himself right now for that friendship and that Pete was smart enough to push on that nerve. And he seemed like the guy who wouldn’t buy him denying it and actually work on executing his plan...

“Yeah.” He shoved the thoughts aside, finally answering her when he noticed she glanced at him waiting for his answer. He cleared his throat while looking to the phone in his hand. “He wants me to go there, and would you look at that. It’s close by.” He handed the phone over as she began driving to where the directions were telling her to go. The car felt quite other than Todd and Dirk talking in the back in little whispers, laughing about something as he shifted to look out the window. Eventually coming to a stop in front of a rundown looking Pawn Shop that had bars on the window. Priest moved his hand to grab the door handle, getting out as he looked at the shop.

Feeling a little annoyed when the trio joined him on the sidewalk, knowing he couldn’t announce Pete sent him to the person who was working. He stuffed his hands in his pockets as he gripped the little note, hoping that would be enough for the person working to know. Walking in and glancing around at the crap that was lying around to be sold, all of it in sections, from home supplies to junk people felt like selling rather than just throwing out. He headed up to the counter looking at the man who was paying more attention to his phone than them. Priest walked over and slid the piece of paper across the counter as Dirk dragged Todd over to something that seemed interesting to him. Farah stayed by his side and the man on his phone slowly picked up the paper and looked to it. His expression changing drastically as he shoved his phone in his pocket and stood up straight.

“Right-right this way, Sir. Ma’am.” He even gave a nod to acknowledge her as he moved and opened the gate for them to go behind the counter. They followed him as he led them through a door in the back, and he stepped up to a rather high security door. He watched the man type in a code before pushing the door open and stepping to the side. “Take whatever you need.” He seemed nervous causing Priest to narrow his eyes on him before he headed down the stairs that were beyond the door. Farah following after him as the door shut behind them.

“Hugo didn’t send you here.” He took in a deep breath through his nose, glad it was just the two of them, he knew Farah was smart. She would be logical about this, Todd would probably be irrational and emotional, and he wasn’t sure where Dirk would stand on all this. But he felt like the boy would say or do something  _stupid_. He shoved the thoughts to the side trying to think of how to explain this to her as they reached the bottom of the stairs. Priest stared at the computer monitors that filled the area before looking to the weapon racks that took up a majority of the room. He whistled low while moving over to look at them.

“Last night, I went for a run and stopped to get coffee in the only diner that was open...” He figured he would start simple, he could see Farah looking at the weapons and Priest couldn’t help but notice all the serial numbers were scratched off, he even checked in the barrels to see that they were scratched inside so that the bullet wouldn’t leave a known trail... well only a known trail if they managed to get their hands on the gun. But then they would just know what gun shot it but nothing of who owned it. He honestly had never seen a weapon cache like this except for in movies. He wondered if this was Pete’s personal thing or if Ken was has been hiding stuff like this from him the whole time. “At this diner I was confronted by Roscoe, and then Pete.” He said the name under his breath, he turned to look at Farah who was looking at some handguns before her eyes landed on him. “You can’t tell the other two about him.”

“What happened, Priest?” He took in a deep breath before turning to look at her, crossing his arms over his chest. Not really liking having to explain everything but at the same time he knew it would be worth it in the end. If one of them knew, then when shit hit the fan they wouldn’t have annoying arguments on how he “betrayed” them or whatever.

“Pete found my one weakness, and to make sure nothing happens to it I’m playing along with Blackwing till I can be certain she’s safe.” He didn’t even know if there was a safe place to send her. Maybe out of the country, but that would have to be done illegally so there was no documentation on it. Would have to change their names... he stared off to the side with a frown, should just find a way to kill Pete... He didn’t know if that wouldn’t set anything into motion yet.

“What does Blackwing want?” He could hear the underlying anger in her voice.

“Updates, that’s it. Just simple updates on what I’m doing. In return, they won’t chase me down meaning they won't get in the way of cases anymore-”

“And after that, then what?” Priest finally looked to her again.

“I don’t know, Farah, I kind of had a time limit on agreeing.” She was shifting in her spot, obviously not happy with the decision that was made.

“How do I know you didn’t just make this up so you could get back in Blackwing’s good graces?” He rolled his eyes from that while grunting and shifting in his stance.

“Miss Black, as much as I would love to go back to Blackwing it ain’t happenin’. In case you forgot I’m stuck workin with someone who wants it destroyed, remember.” Waving his branded hand around. “You think I’m happy about this? That I’m so fuckin pleased that Ken found someone who knows what buttons to push? All I know is if I don’t give them updates he will interfere. So, I'm going to need that number from Dirk before that happens.” Farah was taking in a deep breath and rubbing her forehead clearly thinking everything over.

“What made you of all people cave, no offense, Priest, but I didn’t picture you as the type of guy with attachments that can be threatened.” He grunted from that while turning his back to her to start choosing the weapons he wanted.

“He is threatening to frame Desh and her wife as terrorist spies for ISIS, with the promise of making sure they are kept alive and interrogated. And you know,” He slowly turned to look at Farah, “with enough pain people will say anything you want them to just to make it stop.” He knew it would happen, Desh would last longer but her wife... she wasn’t trained for shit like that, she would probably fall quickly.

“She was the one that let us through the checkpoint?” He slowly looked back at the guns, grabbing a duffle bag to load them up.

“Yeah... sure he can use the footage from that to help with the whole framing business.” He gave a heavy sigh when she put a hand on his shoulder.

“So, what’s your plan?”

“I am going to do what they say while working on getting Desh and her wife under the radar, and after that I’m going to personally kill Pete with my barehands.” He smiled at her while loading some of the guns she was looking at. Finding the ammunition, he made sure to load up on all the types they needed before they headed back upstairs. Priest blinked when the man behind the counter handed him a sheet of paper with addresses on them.

“Here’s our other locations if you ever need more.” He stuffed it away and looked to see Todd and Dirk nervously waiting for them. Priest headed outside and they followed as they loaded up the car.

“Hey, Dirk.” He glanced at Farah while moving to get into the car. “Do you mind if I hold on to Pete’s number? No offense but I think I should have it for the time being.” Dirk looked almost relieved as he pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket and handed it to her.

“Of course, Farah! Honestly, this just makes  _way_  more sense anyway. Given out of all of us I think you’re the only one who won’t give it to our grumpy companion here.” He was grinning and could hear Todd give a soft grunt.

“Hey, I wouldn’t give it to him either.”

“No offense Todd, but I can see Mr. Priest finding a way to get it from you, he isn’t  _always_  about brute force and violence.” Todd looked like he was ready to argue but was quickly cut off by Dirk leaning so far forwards into the middle seat he was practically in the front. “And so, what did you get in the spooky pawn shop?” He asked as Priest took his phone back and went to load up the playlist he and Todd put together.

“Weapons.” Priest finally mused getting a soft sigh from the man who slumped into the back again and slouched down in his seat.

“Do you really need more weapons?” Priest was giggling from the question as he glanced back over his shoulder at the boy.

“Hugo clearly thinks so.” He smiled back at him watching the boy rub his face as they continued their drive back to Seattle. The music they were listening to randomly interrupted by Farah and Dirk wanting a news update. Which for the most part was just updates about towns they were currently in until eventually something of interest came on that caught his attention.

_“Have you heard, it looks like Osmund Priest has been captured as he’s no longer on FBI’s most wanted.”_  He looked to the radio and turned it up.  _“I feel like I can sleep better from this news, especially with all the trouble he was causing for the people of Walden.”_  He could feel Dirk leaning closer to the front of the care now.

“Well you’re definitely not captured.”

“Debatable.” Priest mused getting an eyeroll from Dirk who shifted more in his seat.

“I wonder why they decided to take you off the list.” Dirk added in deciding not to play into his comment. A small smile crossed Priest’s face as he glanced over to the boy.

“I told you, eventually they would give up on that. Wasting time and resources.” He shrugged boredly while looking back ahead to the road. Glad that Pete was actually serious about removing him from the list, though he was curious if anyone would question why he was out and about if they recognized him from the wanted reports. Though he guessed he could say they had him mistaken for someone else.

 The trip back felt long to Priest as they would stop randomly for food and snacks, he and Farah switching shifts to drive. And honestly through most of it he was waiting for something crazy to happen, for a case to start. For something... But everything was lackluster and boring and eventually they made it back to Seattle and to the Agency. After unloading the car Mona joined them on coming inside, Dirk happily unlocking the door and letting them in before turning to look at him. 

“Oh... we need to find a place for you to sleep...” He was rubbing his chin in thought as Priest glanced around the Agency. “Todd and I don’t really have any room in our apartment... And honestly, I’m not sure that’s such a good idea anyway-”

“Hugo did send me to protect you, Darlin’.” Playful tone that had the boy’s face heating up as he put his hands on his hips.

“Yes, well, you don’t have to do that in my own house. I think it’s quite safe there, don’t you?” He asked while looking to Todd, Priest was just giggling from that.

“I don’t know, you are pretty accident prone.” He mused back getting a soft groan from the boy who leaned his head back. 

“And if I recall you’re rather good at creating ‘accidents’, Mr. Priest. I will take my chances without you being in my apartment.” Priest gave a low hum as he looked to Mona who was sitting on the counter where a receptionist would sit in the form of a small black cat. He slowly stepped away from her knowing she usually took on the personality and traits of what she turned in to. And he really didn’t want to get attacked by a cat right now, especially given the fact he was sure his brand would go off if he retaliated... He looked back to them while crossing his arms over his chest.

“I can just stay here if there’s a place for me to set up.” They all didn’t look okay with that choice either. Looking amongst themselves he rolled his eyes while walking over to the couch in the room and sat down. “Why don’t you guys talk about what the plan is. I’ll just be here in the meantime.” Amused tone in his voice as the trio looked to one another and moved to a different area to begin talking. Priest watched them out of the corner of his eye before pulling out his phone and loading up his games. 

Not even trying to listen into their conversation but picking up a few tidbits of it. Mainly about there really being no place for him to stay here. He could get up to something if he hacked into their computers or something along those lines. It felt like the conversation was going around a few times before his games were interrupted by Dirk standing in front of him. He locked the phone and slowly looked up at him while arching an eyebrow as Dirk took in a deep breath and slowly let it out.

“Alright, Mr. Priest, for the time being you can stay on mine and Todd’s couch. I’m sure when things calm down more we can work on getting you your own place to stay. But it might be safer this way, given as we have had random bumps in the night of people breaking into the apartment... Like! It’s not all the time! Or anything.” Frantically waving his hands. “But it has happened on occasion, and it makes more sense for you to be in the proximity should something happen. Rather than you waking up in pain and not knowing why.” He was giving an awkward laugh while rubbing the back of his neck.

“Kay. When do we go?”

“Right, well, honestly, we wanted to make a few stops, we all need new phones.” Dirk informed and Priest couldn’t stop his amused smile from that before nodding.

“Sounds like a good plan.”

“Oh... dang it... I had just gotten new business cards, now I need to order more with a different phone number.” Dirk was sighing while leaning his head back, Priest couldn’t stop the amused giggle from that as the three of them headed out. Leaving Mona there for the time being as the three of them headed out and walked to the T-Mobile store that wasn’t too far from the office. Priest found himself amused when they walked in and Dirk was greeted by name and asked if he needed a new phone. Guessed the boy losing his phone was a normal occurrence, which honestly didn’t surprise him in the least. While they got set up he checked his own phone and slowly worked on a text message to Desh.

[  _How are you doing?_  ]

[  **Fine, well... the text is a little ominous you don’t normally ask shit like that, Oz. :p**  ]

He rolled his eyes from the reply as he shifted trying to think of how to warn her that she was in danger without giving too much away. He didn’t want to tip Pete off that she would know.

[  _Just contact me._  ]

A small way of a warning to hopefully get a burner phone, one she could easily get from Ronda. He glanced back to the trio who were in the middle of setting their phones up before following them out the door. They stopped by the agency again to grab their bags and headed out and split up in different ways, Farah telling them to keep in touch while giving all of them her new number and slipping Priest Pete’s number as well. They then headed to where he guessed Dirk and Todd were staying, which wasn’t far from the agency, was actually the apartment complex behind it. Which looked rather nice to the point he was surprised they could even afford it as they headed inside and up the stairs to their apartment.

Priest set his bags off to the side where they wouldn’t be in the way before glancing at the kitchen, slowly making his way over to it as the boy’s headed over with their own bags to start laundry. Priest glanced at them as he rummaged through the kitchen looking at what all they had to eat which mainly consisted of junk food, cereal, and frozen food. He found himself disappointed with the choices as he looked to see what all they had to cook with pots and pans wise.

“Where’s your closest store?” Priest mused out the question watching as Dirk turned to look at him with slight confusion.

“Well what type of store?” Priest leaned on the counter looking at them through the little break in the wall as Dirk slowly moved closer into view.

“I was hungry, and frozen burritos really doesn’t sound that appealing.” He mused the words out getting a small sigh from Todd. “And you don’t really have much to cook with.” He added which caused a mischievous grin to cross Dirk’s face.

“Mr. Priest! Are you going to make us dinner?” Priest smiled right back at him while resting his chin in his hand.

“I was going to cook me dinner. There just might happen to be enough for you two by the time I’m finished.” Sadly one thing he learned while living in retirement, was hard to cook for just one person and he usually ended up over doing it. Desh always joked it was the ‘Southerner’ in him, but he wasn’t sure if he fully bought that yet.

“There’s a store down the block. The code to get into the complex is 2019* and we’ll leave the door unlocked for you.” Priest hummed while walking over to the money bag, grabbing two hundred-dollar bills as he headed out the door. Not even bothering to take note of what they were in the mood for as he headed down the stairs and onto the street. Could see the sign for a Safeway not that far from him and headed that way, honestly feeling better from being alone for a while. Killing time with a mundane task of shopping as he walked into the store and grabbed a cart. Walking down the aisles and grabbing what he wanted to make for dinner along with a few snack choices for himself.

He could feel his phone buzzing and paused while leaning against the cart. Seeing a number he didn’t recognize with a text he bit his bottom lip while slowly opening it. A bit concerned about who it could be, he doubted Pete would manage to get this number. But if the man could make Monique cave he might be able to make Ronda do the same thing. He gave a sigh of relief however when the first text that was there stated;

[  **It's Desh**  ]

[  **What’s going on?**  ]

[  _Proof._  ]

Just to make sure that it wasn’t someone else pretending to be Desh and all. Probably being paranoid, but at this rate he felt that was just the safest way to play it.

[  **You have a scar barely visible now on your left hand that’s small between your thumb and index finger where I bit you when you tried to strangle me our first meeting** **.**  ]

[  **If that’s not good enough; You’re ticklish on your sides and if I tell anyone you promised to personally skin me** **.**  ]

He smiled from the last text, already working on what to message her as she continued to type things out to him.

[  **When forced to go to functions you typically drink orange juice so it looks like a mimosa.** ]

[  **Despite hating suits the only ones you’ll tolerate wearing have to be three piece.** ]

[  **You absolutely love Britney Spears, and this is also one of the ones you’ll kill me for if I tell anyone** **.**  ]

He wasn’t sure how to tell her, especially with the amused smile she was getting from what all she was saying to him. But he really needed to focus on the text as her little messages kept popping up in list form of his ‘secrets.’ He shifted in his spot before working on a text to send back to her, moving out of the way when someone wanted to look at what was behind him.

[  **You love baking as much as you love botany.**  ]

[  **You would actually make an excellent house wife** **.**  ]

[  **Your first boyfriend was Kian.**  ]

[  **Obvi I’m the only person you love. <** **3**  ]

[  **Your biggest dream is to own a house again.**  ]

[  **You actually talked to me about buying your old one out from under the current owners** **.**  ]

[  **One plan on that involved murder and using them as fertilizer for your roses**. ]

[  **Are you texting me a novel** **?**  ]

[  _There’s a guy, Pete, he’s working with_ _Blackwing_ _and paid me a visit. He made a threat against you and your wife I feel he not only can carry out. But will without hesitation. I’m doing my part to keep you safe, but I think in the mean time you should work on finding a way to get out._  ]

He stared at it a while before finally hitting send. Slipping his phone away as he continued to browse down the aisles, finally heading to the checkout. Getting his bags, he headed back to the apartment, could feel his phone buzz again but he wasn’t willing to try to look at it till he got situated. He typed in the code and let himself into the complex before heading up the stairs and into the apartment. Todd and Dirk were on the couch, Todd watching something on TV and Dirk reading the paper. They glanced up at him almost like they forgot he was staying with them before going back to what they were doing.

“How was the store?” Dirk finally asked as Priest set up in the kitchen and set to work on cooking for them.

“Fine.” Once he got everything prepped he stepped away to check his phone again.

[  **Anyone else in danger?**  ]

[  _Not that he’s pointed out._  ]

No one else really was a weakness for him, they were cannon fodder mainly. Sure, he had a reoccurring sexual relationship with Bosco... Didn’t mean he cared about him, which Pete must have picked up on for having the balls to go right for Desh in the beginning. He sighed to himself while slipping his phone back in his pocket and going back to cooking.

“Everything alright in here?” He glanced over to see Dirk leaning in the doorway, wondering how long he was watching him and how into talking to Desh he was for not noticing the boy until now.

“Yeah, it’s fine.” He muttered while narrowing his eyes on him. “Why?”

“Doesn’t feel fine.” The man replied with a rather cocky attitude. He rolled his eyes from it while looking back to what he was doing.

“Just catching up with the team... They actually get  _fun_ jobs.” He mused out, getting an eye roll from the boy who he could feel just watching him.

“I didn’t know you could cook.” He glanced over to him before looking back to the oven.

“It’s a miracle what you learn to do to curve boredom when you’re retired.” Priest mused out while glancing back over at Dirk.

“That must have been so hard for you, no children to torture, or people to kill.” He laughed from that comment while crossing his arms over his chest and turning to look at him. The boy just grinning at him with an almost daring look.

“Oh, trust me, sweetheart, I found plenty of people to kill. Went the merc route.” He mused while watching him.

“And botany, apparently. Which is still so hard to imagine... Yet I oddly can picture it. You in a big ol’ sunhat, with an apron that’s holding all your supplies.” He couldn’t stop laughing from that while looking back at the boy.

“Tended to just do it shirtless.” Not that it ever got particularly cold where he lived. 

“I have to know; did you grow your own food?”

“Yeah. Cheaper than buying it at the stores.” He shrugged getting a small laugh from the boy who was inching a bit more into the kitchen.

“So how is your team doing?” The boy finally pried, made him wonder if he was joking around to get him in a better mood so he would talk about it. Priest just shrugged while turning his back to him again, making sure everything was going well as he finally walked passed the boy to let the food cook.

“They’re fine. Move over.” He hit Todd with a pillow getting an annoyed grunt from the man who scooted over so he could sit on the couch.

“Really? You had to hit me? Why didn’t that hurt you?” Priest looked to the pillow with an amused smile before looking back to Todd.

“Yes, cause clearly this  _pillow_  is going to damage you. Watch out everyone, I have a weapon to use against you guys finally.” He leaned back on the couch and crossed his ankle over his knee as he stared at the TV. “What bullshit we watchin’, anyway?” He glanced over to Dirk who climbed over the back of the couch and sat next to Todd while glancing at the TV.

“It’s nothing.” Todd was moving to change the channel and Priest easily snatched it out of his hand, ignoring the show which had something to do with Music, and covering a band he didn’t really care about. As he started to flick through channels trying to find something interesting to watch. “You are a terrible house guest.” Todd stated in an unimpressed tone of voice.

“I’m cookin’ ya dinner.”

“I thought you were cooking  _you_  dinner.” Dirk countered with a laugh. One that had Priest moving to grab the pillow and hit him with this time. Which only actually caused the boy to laugh harder. He sighed from that while checking his phone for the time, noticing Todd staring at him from the corner of his eye.

“What are you making by the way? It smells really good...” Honestly, it was a bit of comfort food for himself, he looked from his phone over to Todd while locking it and handing him the remote. Heading back towards the kitchen with a small shrug.

“Just something simple... Chicken fried steak, with mashed potatoes, buttermilk biscuits and gravy.” He informed while going back to checking on everything. Todd was actually laughing causing Priest to glance back at him as he looked to the kitchen.

“How southern can you be, Oz?” A bite of sarcasm in his tone causing Priest to grin from that.

\---

After dinner, Priest found himself amused when Todd was the one that ended up cleaning up. Putting left overs away and washing the dishes Priest made himself comfortable on the couch. He watched as Dirk eventually wandered over setting down a blanket and pillow for him for when he went to sleep that night. The boy leaning on the back of the couch and watching him, looking like he wanted to say something but wasn’t sure how.

“What?” He asked as the boy just stood up straight with a sigh while stepping away from the couch.

“Mr. Priest, can I ask you a personal question.” Priest groaned already as he laid on the couch, one leg bent with his ankle crossed over his knee. Just waiting for the question to be asked now as he glanced over to the boy. “I know you mentioned already your home life and how your sexuality was viewed between that and Blackwing, but what was the real reason you changed your attitude towards me?” Priest could remember that day so clearly, he rocked his foot causing his leg to shake before he finally sat up.

“I was only ever nice to you because you followed orders.” He stated, which wasn’t a lie, it was honestly the truth. He could see Dirk shifting not buying that answer.

“I was following orders on the day you turned on me.” He pointed out bluntly, he could hear the sink turning off from the kitchen knowing Todd was paying attention now. “It’s a lame answer, I want to know the truth. Was it  _because_  you found out I had a crush on you?” There was actually a small laugh from the kitchen which faded quickly from both Priest and Dirk glancing at Todd.

“Sorry... I just... you actually had a crush on this guy?” Dirk was shifting now obviously feeling awkward about it.

“Well... Yes... He was one of the only people that was nice to me, and even you have to admit he’s not bad looking. Of course, he looked better when he didn’t have that scar on his face.”

“Dunno, think it helps my rugged good looks.” Priest teased, catching a small glimpse of a smile on the boy’s lips before he was rolling his eyes.

“But really, Mr. Priest... I want to know.” He wasn’t sure the boy actually did want to know. He wasn’t sure where his opinion stood on Scott, from the report he read it didn’t sound like the boy was happy to see the man at all. So, he wouldn’t be surprised if the boy had wizened up and disliked the man after everything Blackwing did to him. Or if the boy would just think he was lying to him in order to try and defend the guy.

“Scott felt like the reason y’are the way y’are is because I played influence in it.” He rolled his eyes from that, still feeling bitter over everything from that day. “It’s funny you know, I did my best to hide it for a long time...” He trailed off while leaning back in his seat. “I made no mention of it to anyone, but then there was one day, I was so high on pain meds while being questioned... I just couldn’t stop myself from hitting on the scientist that was poking and prodding me. Which was how  _Scotty_ found out I was queer, and gave me that promise, you know the one.”

“He’ll fix it.” Dirk said softly, Priest just laughed bitterly while looking back to him. 

“It was years without it coming up again... until you.” He pointed at him, could see Todd in the corner of his eye, moving like he wanted to take Dirk out of the room. Which he supposed was fair his tone did become darker, rough, angry. “He calls me into his office and tells me that little Icarus has got a crush on me.” He could Dirk dropping his gaze from that. “Which of course was  _clearly_ all my fault, spreading my disease to the other projects... god what was it he said... ‘wasn’t the first one I brought in like that.’” He was giggling because it was true. He brought in Martin who swung both ways. Aodhan, a transman. And well, shit he wouldn’t be surprised if others were queer he didn’t know about. “He told me to stop it, or he would lock me up again. So, I put an end to that  _real_ quick, now didn’t I?” Small giggle while getting up. “But I ain’t gonna apologize for it, because I ain’t sorry.” He stated while turning to face the boy. “You almost ruined a good thing for me-” 

He felt shocked when the boy actually hugged him.

He stood there stunned mainly from the action he really wasn’t prepared for. He more of was expecting yelling and an attempted argument, but not...  _this_. He blinked before looking down at the boy who he could tell was crying and still just hugging him. He looked from him to Todd, hoping the man would get his boyfriend otherwise he was going to shove him off. Todd thankfully seemed to notice the look and moved over to them, putting a hand on Dirk’s shoulder to get his attention while leading him away. He watched for a moment before sighing and moving to sit down.

“Don’t try to make this something it’s not, Dirk.” Priest muttered, he wasn’t trying to excuse himself, and he really didn’t want to have the boy deciding he was nicer than he was. Dirk actually laughed at that causing Priest to eye him suspiciously, watching the boy wipe his tears away as he smiled at him weakly.

“Trust me, Mr. Priest, I still think you’re a horrible person. It’s just morbidly fascinating to see you’re as broken as the rest of us.” He actually moved about to argue only for Dirk to end the conversation by quickly pulling Todd into the bedroom and shutting the door on him.

“I ain’t nothin’ like you.” He muttered bitterly under his breath, feeling annoyed now as he crossed his arms over his chest and kicked his feet up on the coffee table. That was going to bug him. He felt this was going to be one of those annoying things the boy wouldn’t let go. 

\---

“Hey.” Todd sat Dirk down on the bed, sitting next to him and putting a hand on his shoulder. There was a fit of worry in his chest as he watched the man he loved wipe away tears from his eyes. “Don’t use this to try and rationalize a way to forgive him. He’s still your abuser.” He worried about it, he worried so much that this situation would make Dirk rationalize away everything Osmund put him through because he was ‘protecting’ them now. Or some bullshit like that, which still made his stomach turn with bad feelings. All random bouts of getting along, and joking around aside. He still didn’t trust the man, he knew the second he had any type of slack or freedom that Osmund would turn on them in a second.

Didn’t help the man blatantly admitted that would be the case too.

“Don’t worry, Todd, Mr. Priest has done way too much for me to forgive him for anything. I meant what I said about being morbidly fascinated about him actually being broken like the rest of us. You know I always had so many ‘What ifs' growing up. What if I listened better? What if I tried harder? What if I passed the tests? Wondering and raking my brain over the coals of thoughts that traveled to deep dark places... but learning... you know actually  _learning_ that Mr. Priest himself was a project. Seeing the same scars on him-” He took Dirk’s hand when the man touched his chest where the vivisection scar was.

A scar Dirk wouldn’t let him see for the longest time. A scar hidden under singlets even during the first time they made love. Dirk refusing to let him take it off, until one day Dirk was confident enough to let him see the scars that Blackwing left him. Scars that made Todd angry to see, to hear about as Dirk talked about the ones he could and shut down about others. He just held Dirk’s hand tighter when the man used his other to wipe more tears from his eyes.

“I know now, that even if I was able to do what Blackwing wanted...” He listened to him trail off as he followed the man’s gaze to the door. “I would still come out broken and traumatized, and maybe as a person I wouldn’t even like.” Todd moved to kneel in front of him, taking both of his hands in his now as he smiled weakly up at him, wishing he knew exactly what to say to make this better. But he didn’t, he wasn’t sure if what he was about to say would make it worse.

“Blackwing is a horrible place, that did terrible things to good people... and bad people.” He motioned towards where Osmund would be. “But you're not responsible for how other people cope with their own bullshit. And you don’t need to take that on for him either. Okay?” Dirk just smiled weakly at him and nodded. Todd felt like he should do something to lighten the mood and gave him a small playful smile while leaning back to look up at him. “Was Ozzy  _really_  your childhood crush?” Dirk groaned from that, dramatically falling on his back and staring up at the ceiling.

“You are never going to let that go, are you?”

“Never.” He was laughing while joining him on the bed.

“You are terrible.”

“I’m starting to realize you really do have terrible taste in men.” Dirk rolled his eyes at him while looking over at him. Todd just smiled innocently as Dirk rolled over on his side.

“I don’t know about terrible. You’re pretty good.” Todd laughed at that and shook his head.

“No, we’ve gone over this, I’m terrible. You even said so yourself.” He was met with a playful slap to the arm, which he paid back by pulling the man into a kiss.

\---

Priest was staring at the blank TV for a while before sighing and stripping down into his boxers. Grabbing the throw blanket left for him as he adjusted so he was facing the door and pulled the blanket over him to try and go to sleep. But he couldn’t stop eyeing his phone which he grabbed and went down to Pete’s number in his phone before calling it.

_\--”_ _Y’ellow_ _.”_  He was already rolling his eyes from the cheery tone in the man’s voice.

“It’s Priest.” He muttered getting a small laugh on the other side of the line.

_\--”Was wondering when I was going to hear from you.”_  He could hear what sounded like muffled crying on the other end of the line. He narrowed his eyes curious what the man was up to.  _“One moment, I have to deal with this. I told you-”_  The line muted in the middle of the man yelling at whoever he was dealing with. He waited patiently and slowly rolled over on his back. It felt like time was ticking by slowly from the silence on the other line before he heard a heavy sigh come back in.  _“Sorry about that, you know how work is.”_  He sounded so nonchalant about it.

“We’re in Seattle, I’m staying at Dirk and Todd’s apartment, there’s no case going on. I’ll let you know when one picks up-”

_\--“Now hold on a moment.”_  He sighed while bringing his phone back to his ear given he was about to hang up on him when he was done with his ‘report’.  _“You will still check in with me twice a week, you and I both know that Dirk doesn't have a consistent work schedule... What’s Mr._ _Friedkin_ _up to in the mean time?”_  He figured they would want to know that, honestly,  _he_  wanted to know that.

“Hell if I know, last time I saw him was before our lovely meetin’, he don’t exactly tell me what he’s up to.” He could hear someone yelling in the background now followed by a rather loud thud. The phone filled with a deathly silence then before he could hear a heavy sigh.

_\--”Now look what you made me do.”_ He was obviously not talking to him anymore. “ _I told you what would happen, didn’t I?”_  Could hear muffled begging from another side of the room.  _“Mr. Priest.”_  He could hear movement.  _“Your next update will involve Hugo Friedkin, or I might just show up anyway.”_  He narrowed his eyes from that statement. _“_ _Oh, and Mr. Priest... Don’t think I don’t know about the conversation you and Miss Black had.”_ He could feel his heart sink from that statement, a small feeling of worry building in his chest. “ _I do keep close tabs on all our safe houses. You’re welcome for that by the way, but I figured with the bullshit you seem to get into you might be able to use the back up.”_

“Pete-”

\-- _“I am curious about your plan for Deshmukh and Missus Deshmukh though...”_  He could feel his skin crawl from that statement which was quickly followed by a laugh. _"Plan on getting them out of the country? Because, trust me Mr. Priest. I have such a close eye on them.”_  He hated that, he hated that a lot.

“Pete-”

_\--”_ _But_ _honestly, I don’t blame you for telling_ _Miss Black_ _._ _Even_ _if_ _this is going to make things more complicated when I inevitably have to show up.”_

“That ain’t gonna happen-”

_\--”Oh_ _I know you, Mr. Priest, rules never seem to apply to you much now do they?”_  There was a small laugh, he could hear someone screaming, begging.

“Who do you have?”

_\--”Nah_ _._ _.. you just... You just,”_ He was laughing now followed by a long sigh that actually sounded fond. Like he was thinking of something. Him not spitting out what he was trying to say was causing him to hate this conversation more and more.  _“You. Just. Do. What. You. Want.”_  The screaming getting louder with each word.

“Pete, who do you have?" He repeated with a sudden bit of worry that this was planned, that he had who he was using to hold over his head. That definitely sounded like a woman screaming, and Pete not answering him made his paranoia skyrocket.

\--“ _Have_ _a good night_ _, Mr. Priest_ _.”_ He could hear a gunshot as the man hung up the phone.

“Damn it!” Priest pulled the phone away from his ear and eyed it for a moment before quickly calling Desh. Wanting to make sure that she was fine, that him hearing his and Miss Black’s conversation didn’t-

_\--”Hello_ _?”_  She sounded tired, but obviously okay, he gave a sigh in relief from that, tempted to just hang up now but he wanted to be sure.  _“It’s like really early where I am right now, Oz.”_  Little whine in her voice.

“Sorry, just makin’ sure you’re okay.”

_\--”_ _M’fine_ _. Talk to you later-”_

“Your wife?” He waited as he heard a small laugh coming from Desh, then the sound of movement and light snoring.

_\--”_ _Sleepin_ _like a baby.”_  He gave a soft sigh while hanging up on her and slowly setting his phone back onto the couch. 

He once more was finding it difficult to sleep, staring at nothing in the darkness for a while before he finally just sat up and turned on the TV. Flipping through channels until he noticed a blue hue taking over the room. He sat there for a moment before glancing behind him to see a portal just sitting open for him. He slowly got up and headed over to it, looking it over before stepping through and glancing behind him when it shut. He looked back ahead to see Hugo sitting on a bed with a blank expression on his face before the man turned to look at him.

“Hey, Mr. Priest.” He smiled at him with that charming stupidity that had Priest sighing as he walked over and laid on the bed face first. Just lying there in silence wondering what the man wanted now, he grunted when Hugo laid next to him, throwing an arm over him as he nuzzled his face into his back. “You have to be careful with your, uh, new  _friend_.”

“Yeah, great, wonderful advice Hugo. Like I’m talking to some wide sage. Never woulda guessed that.” He stated sarcastically.

“You’re like... welcome Mr. Priest. I’m surprised you like, uh, didn’t already realize that.” He propped himself up a bit to look at him with narrowed eyes. Wondering if he was serious or if the boy was fucking with him.

“Hugo, I was being sarcastic.”

“Oh!” God he was so fucking stupid, it oddly just made him want to kiss his stupid mouth.

“What would have happened, if he came in during the case rather than after?” Priest asked, wanting to know as the man ended up sitting up. He turned his head to look at him as Hugo propped his head in his hand and rested his elbow on his knee.

“Oh... like... you would be locked up in Blackwing... Well not actual Blackwing, but like, a, uh, secondary location place? Dirk and Todd would like be locked up too. And then they would like totally be brainwashing Farah to like work for them.” Priest blinked a few times before rolling over on his side to stare at him. “And then like, you would have never gotten the crystal. And like it’s gonna help you out like uh... like a lot.”

“Couldn’t you just break us out?” He watched how Hugo looked from the galaxy above them over to him with a frown.

“I would like... totally also be in Blackwing, Mr. Priest.” He sat up from that while narrowing his eyes on him. Knew they had a teleporter they were able to keep locked down, but Hugo could make actual portals... unless they planned to do to him what they did to Project Slaugh. Could remember Roscoe with that weapon for Abaddon on his hip, were they really going to try to catch Hugo? Was that why Pete wanted updates on him? He took in a deep breath and slowly let it out while rolling his eyes.

“They’re using me to get to you.” Hugo sat up and pointed at him with a large smile.

“Yes!” His over excitement from him stating that was a little off putting. And really not something he should sound so excited about. That was a bad thing and all not a good thing. Who knew what the fuck would happen if they managed to capture the embodiment of the universe.

“Hugo... this ain’t a good thing.” He stated flatly watching the man rub the back of his neck sheepishly from his statement. Like he knew, he just was excited about something else based around his words.

“I like  _know_. Duh, Mr. Priest.” Stating it in a pouting way, like he was ruining his fun somehow. “I’m just like... glad you know that.” It really wasn’t hard to figure out.

“It ain’t geometry.” He mused the words out getting a soft sigh from the boy. “Can’t I just kill Pete and call it done?” Hugo was laughing at that one while laying down on the bed and staring up at the Galaxy above them. Priest sighed and joined him, just lying next to the man and staring up at the sky.

“That’s like going to be hard Mr. Priest. He’s smart enough to know you’ll like totally try that.” Priest looked at his hands from that statement, thinking of what Hugo said about the crystal amplifying his abilities.

“Won’t my new altered abilities help me with that?” He mused out getting a heavy sigh from Hugo who rolled over to look at him.

“You can’t like kill him Mr. Priest, he’ll be needed later.” Like Roscoe supposedly would be needed. He wanted to know what Hugo knew, he moved to grab the man by the front of his shirt as he rolled over and straddled the man’s waist. Looking him in the eyes as he leaned in, could feel Hugo’s hands rubbing his thighs from that as he looked interested in what he was doing.

“Needed how? Like how Calitri will be needed? Cause you started to lead me to believe that he only was necessary because Pete is worse.” Hugo was nodding from that with a blank expression on his face.

“Well... Like  _yeah_... but like... also  _totally_ needed.”

“How!?” He just wanted a goddamn answer.

“It’s hard to explain.” He rolled his eyes from that and punched the man in the chest, hating getting all these cheap answers that was leading him nowhere. The man was just laughing while rubbing his chest, shifting under him he could feel the boy’s thighs pressing against his lower back when he bent his legs. Feeling him rocking his hips up causing Priest to move his hands to his shoulders so he didn’t fall.

“I’m not really in the mood right now, Hugo.” He stated while sitting up straight and rubbing the side of his face.

“That’s a shame.” He couldn’t help but give the boy an amused smile, blinking when he slid up the bed and pulled him with him. The man just leaning against the pillows while watching him. “You should, like, get some sleep Mr. Priest.”

“I think you should answer my questions-” He gasped when the man rolled them over easily, blinking from his hands being pinned by his head as he looked up at him. Shifting slightly under him and feeling the amount of pressure he was putting on him to keep him pinned. “You uh... you said, someone would meet us at the Agency-”

“Yes.”

“No one was there when we got there?” He tilted his head as Hugo just smiled at him, closing his eyes with a soft noise from the way the man moved to pin his hands above his head. Hating how much he was enjoying that right now, he should have Hugo in a position like this instead...

“Oh, they’ll like... uh... be there tomorrow?”

“I could have just come with you.” There was a small smile as the man squeezed his wrists and leaned back with a small sigh.

“But then you, like, wouldn’t have had your meeting with like Peter and uh Roscoe.”

“You knew about that!?” He was starting to sit up only for Hugo to grab him by his throat and pin him down into the bed. He grunted from it as Hugo just smiled down at him, something about it making his anger curve, just a bit. “A warning would have been nice-”

“But then you like totally would have like, uh, ruined it.”

“Hugo.” Growling the man’s name and getting an innocent smile in return as Hugo just tilted his head at him.

“Something important happened with that. I’m not sure if you like, noticed it? But like something happened that needed to like happen.” Priest hated this, he wished the man would just tell him.

“Can you stop being cryptic for like five seconds?”

“No.” He stated so bluntly Priest found himself a little stunned from it. “Mr. Priest... I think you should sleep. You can like... stay here if you want?” He watched Hugo get up and just stayed in the position he had been pinned in. Lying there in a slight daze, before a sudden annoyance hit him as he sat up to watch the man looking at something. Eyes lingering on him as he followed the galaxy above them and a portal opened when he raised his hand. 

“Get the feelin I don’t have much of a choice in that.” He muttered as Hugo just laughed.

“I’ll, uh, be right back.” He watched him step through the portal and vanish, causing him to sigh as he laid back down in the bed which actually was pretty comfortable. He eventually slipped under the blankets and got comfortable in the bed, thoughts lingering on a small thought of if Hugo even needed to sleep. Or did he really just put one here if they were going to fuck-

“Hey, wait a second.” He glared off to where Hugo left. That little asshole, planned on getting him all worked up and then probably would have just  _left_  before he even got to finish. He grunted from the thought, really would need to work on making sure Hugo understood that if they were going to do shit like this he took priority over whatever the fuck eldritch horror show bullshit he was putting on.


	12. Totally Probable

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dirk heads down to the agency where he gets his new case. The exciting day however is interrupted by some friends of theirs who are not thrilled about their new partner. Thing get tense when the new case leads Dirk to contacting someone inside of Blackwing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Characters** : Osmund Priest. Dirk Gently. Todd Brotzman. Hugo Friedkin. Amanda Brotzman. Martin. Gripps. Cross. Vogel. Beast. Farah Black.   
> **Warnings** : Violence. POV Change.

“Mr. Priest is gone.” Dirk stated it as he stood in the empty living room. Looking at the man’s discarded clothes and the phone sitting on the couch. All abandoned and sad, but nothing looked disturbed almost as if he just vanished. “Oh! Maybe the case is to find Mr. Priest-”

“He’s probably fucking Hugo.” Todd said in a rather grumpy tone while waiting for his coffee to finish. Dirk blinked sitting there for a moment as his mind flashed back to what he walked in on. Mr. Priest pinned down on the couch while Hugo- he could feel his face heating up as he turned away from the couch. Coughing slightly as he choked on spit from the very much unneeded mental image.

“Right… You’re… probably right… I just wish he would loosen up a bit after.” Dirk stated with a heavy sigh. “Okay I need to go to the Agency.” He informed while already waltzing out the door, not even noticing Todd was rushing out of him only in his boxers and a t-shirt.

“Dirk! Don’t you think you should wait! I can join you.” Dirk turned to look him over, a coy smile crossing his face as he leaned in with a cheeky smile.

“Todd, how  _scandalous_ , you coming dressed like that?” Playful tone which made him only receive a blush and a flustered ‘no.’ “Well, I’ll see you there after you get dressed then.” He stated with a large grin, just knowing for some reason he had to be at the Agency right away. Which really, he had that feeling last night but he decided against it as that would probably be weird. Well he didn’t think so but Todd did. So, he tried to avoid sleeping in the Agency unless they were really slammed on a case. He enjoyed a rather nice walk, able to clear his head as he walked over to the building. Smile of pride on his face as he unlocked the door and walked in. Already working on looking around to make sure everything was in order.

It didn’t take long before he heard the little chime of the bell on the door as he turned to greet the customer. Turning to see a man who looked a little unsure of himself, like he was questioning coming to him. Already it was making Dirk excited as he bounced on his toes. Waving at the man rather excitedly.

“Hi!” A little more volume and enthusiasm than needed. He told himself to tone it down a notch while clearing his throat. “I mean. Hello- well I suppose hi works. They’re like the same thing, right? Any way! Sorry. I’m rambling. I do that sometimes. I hope you don’t mind.” He interjected his own conversation as he watched the man look at him and noticed a sudden calmness on his face from the behavior. “Can I help you sir?”  

“You’re… that Holistic Detective, right? Dirk Gently?” Dirk grinned while nodding his head as the man stepped more into the agency. Looking at the man who was holding something in is hands they looked like papers. “I like… I like wasn’t sure who to go to for this… Oh I’m Eli, by the way. I was told you were good at helping with like… weird shit and so I…” He trailed off while rubbing the back of his neck.

“Oddities are my specialty.”

“Great! Then I was actually wondering if you could help me find someone?” He sounded more unsure at the end. Now Dirk had found people before, they weren’t necessarily his favorite cases, finding people, usually complicated and somehow, he always ended up in jail. But he could do it.

“Of course! That’s what I do. What uhm…. I mean, who are you looking for?” He watched as the man fiddled with the file in his hand before holding it out to him.

“He’s a… uh… good friend of mine… Okay fuck I’m sorry that’s a lie. He’s my boss. I… we… we were working and we ran into a guy while we was working and like… Like Aodhan…” Dirk opened the file looking at the couple of photos in there of a man smoking a cigarette and honestly looking ready to murder someone. “Aodhan he like… his entire demeanor changed… Like he went from joking around and laughing to like serious. And honestly, he don’t ever get serious with anything… well except pictures… I’m rambling now… But uh… He looked at me and told me to run. And so like… So, like I ran, and these guys were going to chase me but he like…” The man’s hands were shaking now. “It was weird, and there were explosions and when I didn’t hear noise anymore, I ran back to see if he was okay but like… he was just gone.”  

“And that was the last time you saw him.”

“Yeah man… everything was weird. Like the guys… the guys we was talking to… they uhh… they got out of these big black vans, and they looked military.” Dirk froze at that as he looked passed pictures of the man that was missing and stopped on a small printed background file. “I was originally thinking about going to the police… but what we was doin wasn’t entirely legal… and these guys that took him didn’t seem like no ordinary cops… And it’s hard to do it too when Aodhan has-”

“Been reported as Dead since he was sixteen.” He was staring at the file before slowly looking back up to the man. He was nodding in agreeance from that. “We’ll take the case!”  

“Thank you so much! Really dude! I worry about him a lot he’s like a brother to me. Please call me if there’s anything I can help with. His last known location before he vanished is in there.” He nodded from it.

“Thank you, Eli. I’ll let you know as soon as I find something out.” Though honestly with the file and the description it sounded like Blackwing got him.

“Thank you, Dirk. Oh and there was something off about the guy in charge, really tall guy, wore bright colors. But there was something that weren’t right about him? Like I don’t know how to describe it. When he stepped out, and before Aodhan told me to run… I don’t know if it’s important or not but just so you know he weren’t right.” He added while leaving. And if that wasn’t unnerving he didn’t know what was.

“Dirk… sorry I’m late… what’s that?” He didn’t know how to explain it, he didn’t know where to start.

“We got a case… It’s just I think Blackwing has our target…” He said under his breath. Todd was frowning and Dirk moved his hands to wave them at him. “I mean I’ve broken into Blackwing before it shouldn’t be too hard to do it again!” Although he was afraid of what would happen. How it would play out but obviously this is what he needed to do. “Aodhan is the man we’re looking for, he was working and black vans showed up Aodhan told his partner to leave and then he was gone. It’s kind of exciting though isn’t it? Breaking into a place like that to save another person like me.” Todd held a hand out and Dirk slowly handed the file over to him for Todd to look over.

“That’s good… but we have a small problem.” Todd announced causing Dirk to blink as he turned to look at him. “My sister is in our apartment with Vogel and the rest of the Rowdy Three are outside with Martin while he smokes…” Dirk had a moment of wondering why that was a problem… until he realized Priest could materialize in the apartment at any time.

“I feel bad trying to hide our situation from them.” Todd was nodding as they headed out of the agency.

“I know, but I don’t want them involved in this either.” Todd was rubbing his face. “It might be best to lie to them, I can do it. You suck at lying.” Dirk gave an offended gasp while hitting the man with the file after snatching it from his hands.

“Why I never. I am the world’s greatest liar. You know I should be called that; Holistic Liar.”

“Bullshit… Dirk you… you can’t even like… keep a straight face. And you make up like… ridiculous stories.” He scoffed at that with a grin as they headed towards the apartment.

“They are not ridiculous Todd, they’re completely probable.” He stated with complete confidence.

“Dirk. You told me the reason you were late one time is because you were attacked by a stampede of raging unicorns.” Todd stated with an amused smile on his face.

“That is  _totally_ probable.”

“When have you ever seen a unicorn?” He blinked at that, looking to the file slyly while lifting it up to cover his mouth and nose with the item.

“Uhm… when Mona turns into one.”

“She turned into a unicorn?” Now sounding in awe by the possibilities he never once imagined with their shape shifting friend.

“We were going on an adventure!” He started to explain as they headed outside and back towards the apartment. “And then Mr. Priest ruined it, that man is really no fun.” He stated with a huff, Todd was laughing at his sad broken childhood story and honestly Dirk couldn’t stop a small smile as well. Shifting in his spot as he saw the Rowdy Three up ahead, Beast was even with them and it looked like she was chasing something. She stopped immediately though and whipped her head around to look at him almost as if she smelled him. He could see a smile cross her face as she ran at him, still having a bit of an odd out of place run but she seemed to be getting better at it as she picked him up in a hug. One he swore she was almost crushing his spine with.

“Beauty Boy!” He managed to snake a hand out of the hug and lifted it to gently pat her head.

“Hi Beast! It’s good to see you-” He squeaked when the display ended with the rest of the Rowdy Three joining in on the hug. Where he was crushed between Beast, and the other three older men. He felt like all the air was being squeezed out of his lungs before he was dropped. Landing ungracefully and coughing as Martin laughed and ruffled his hair. But then he was leaning in with a serious look on his face.

“Why’s this place smell of Oz, Beauty Boy.” Playfully flicking his forehead despite the serious growl in his words.

“Oh well-”

“He was poking around but he’s gone now-” Todd interjected rather easily.

“Drummer should have killed him last I remember.” Dirk was shifting before pointing at the man with his file.

“Did you see a body?” He asked and Martin growled at that while actually snatching the file out of his hand. “Hey! That’s serious Detective business-” He gasped when his attempt to snatch the file was thwarted by Cross picking him up and giving him a noogie. “Cross!”

“Nerd Alert!”

“Yeah, get him.” Todd unfortunately was pulled into the big brother play by Gripps who decided he also deserved a noogie. Todd was groaning from it as Beast laughed while watching the display.

“Boys.” They stopped and moved over to look over Martin’s shoulder at the file. “Dirk… why you have a file on Aodhan Murphey?”

“Oh! You know him!?” Dirk asked in excitement while running around the three to look at them, Martin raising his gaze with a very serious look on his face.

“Helped us destroy Blackwing in the escape…” He closed the file with his words slowly holding it back out to him.

“That’s great! Maybe he will-”

“He ain’t friendly.” Martin stated darkly. Which had Dirk looking at him in surprise as the other Rowdies continued to move around and nod their heads. Like they were getting worked up thinking about this man.

“Baaaad attitude.” Cross agreed, was even snatching a photo from the file to look it over.

“Makes big explosions though.” Gripps added fondly. Like that was the only nice thing to say about him.

“Boom!” Cross added moving his hands to emphasize the explosion.

“Boom!” Beast added in with a laugh that got the other two to laugh as Martin hit his bat on the ground to get their attention.

“You gonna need help with this one. He’s a little wild, Beauty Boy, ain’t gonna be easy.” Great. Of course, it wasn’t, why on earth would he ever get an easy case? Just once, once in his career he would like a case he could solve in seconds. Something easy and simple that he could just zip in and out of. With no complications or bad guys. Just something easy. Not even finding all the cats in his neighborhood when he was a child was easy, and everyone was so mad about it-

“This is all very… Okay,  _extremely_ … Unsettling coming from you three…” Gripps was laughing at his words while slapping him rather hard on the back. “But really the main problem for this case is I believe Blackwing has him. So, the hard part will be finding their new location, breaking in, and getting back out with him.”

“We got you, Beauty Boy.”

“Yeah we’ll protect you.” Cross added to Gripps words. This was bad. This was awful… If Priest showed up- he could already see the three of them sniffing the air. Watching as Martin growled and sneered with a look of murder in his eyes. Dirk’s worst fears becoming reality as he could hear Vogel scream from the top floor;

“Guys! Priest’s here!”

—

The bed was surprisingly comfy and it didn’t take long after Hugo left till, he actually fell asleep. All the exhaustion catching up to him so quickly. He groaned from the random interruption, when he went from being alone in the bed to suddenly there being a body next to him and curled around him. He glared out at nothing before turning to look toward Hugo who seemed perfectly content against and half on top of him. Priest was just annoyed it took till Hugo touching the bed to actually wake him. Ignoring the fact, the man was cuddling up to him, he turned his head to look back out at the universe before closing his eyes again. Which thankfully didn’t take too much longer to fall asleep.

He woke up eventually realizing he had no concept of what time it was here, and he didn’t have his phone so he couldn’t even look. He shoved Hugo getting a soft sigh from the boy who was awake as he sat up and stretched. “What times it?” He asked with a yawn, watching Hugo out the corner of his eye as the man rolled on his back and looked up.

“Oh, like noon.” He felt like his heart almost stopped from that. Noon? He let him sleep till noon.

“Alright, send me back-”

“You don’t want to go back right now.” Was all Hugo stated, he rolled his eyes from that, guessing he shouldn’t be annoyed by the break, but really, he wouldn’t mind getting dressed. He was also hungry, oh and coffee sounded so good right now…

“I thought you wanted me to save them or something.” He muttered, getting back to Dirk and Todd wasn’t even his main priority, he just wanted coffee and food. Hugo was sitting up and he blinked when the man leaned against him.

“They’re safe right now, trust me when I say you don’t want to go back right now.” Really that only made him curious about why he wouldn’t want to go back. But he just ignored him and stood up, waiting rather impatiently for Hugo to teleport him back to Dirk and Todd’s. Hugo gave him a small sigh and then waved his hand and Priest walked through the portal into the middle of the living room. Still only in his boxers only to walk in finding Amanda standing there, coffee cup being lifted to her lips. He grinned when she saw him and just stood there frozen. Eyes wide.

He was about to make a sarcastic ‘surprised to see me’ comment given the bitch almost killed him. But that was interrupted rather quickly when he heard something behind him. He dodged off to the side just narrowly missing getting smashed with a crowbar which belonged to Vogel. Who, really, he only heard because the dumbass announced himself with a pathetic little war cry. Finding his bag, he just casually walked over to it.

“Really, Jacob, at least let me get pants on.” He muttered unzipping his bag and pulling out a pair of jeans.

“Guys! Priest’s here!” He could already hear the sound of footsteps up the stairs. And then Dirk’s voice asking everyone to calm down. Priest managed to get his pants on just in time for Martin, Cross, and Gripps to invade the apartment. He was now understanding why Hugo said he wouldn’t want to come back as he jumped back when Martin swung at him. He couldn’t help but notice he was actually moving faster than usual. He couldn’t stop his smile from that, feeling that rush he got when his hand absorbed the crystal. He moved back more dodging each swing, before finally catching the bat with his marked hand.

“What is that, Oz?” He could hear Martin growl at him as the man got in his face. Priest squeezed the bat, could feel it beginning to splinter, watching how the man looked to it in surprise before lifting a foot, kicking him rather hard in the stomach. He grunted when he managed to knock him back and right on to the couch. He sat there for a moment with an amused smile as Dirk managed to squeeze passed Gripps and Cross and stand between Martin and him. Hands up, panting, trying to catch his breath almost as if he ran a marathon.

“Wait-”

“What do you mean wait!?” Amanda snapped, and he turned his head to see her aiming her wand at him. He narrowed his eyes on her as he slowly stood up, pushing Dirk out of his way so he could do so as he walked around the couch, ignoring the wand on him. “What the fuck is going on, Dirk!?” Amanda snapped, Dirk was already scrambling to get between him and the wand as he walked into the kitchen and smiled from the sight of freshly made coffee. Grabbing the pot and a mug he poured himself a cup.

“He… He is under a contract by Hugo to help me.” Dirk explained, Priest turned and raised the branded hand.

“Yeah, got this after you threw me off the roof.” He mused out watching as Martin moved, physically picking Dirk up and moving him out of the way before going right for him. Priest quickly set his coffee down when he was slammed rather hard into the fridge by Martin. He took in a deep breath, hand throbbing in an annoying way from the thought of punching him crossing his mind.

“You’re up to something.”

“Ohhh, Marty, I really wish I was, do you know, how fuckin’ borin’ it is to protect them?” He found it really hard not to beat the living shit out of the man with his new-found abilities Hugo decided to give him. He was glaring at the man, just waiting for whatever Martin was going to pull, feeling himself getting shoved harder into the fridge.

“Ya can’t trust him.” Martin said to Dirk, the boy had stepped into the kitchen, holding his hands out in half surrender. “He’s a snake.”

“Well currently he’s our snake.” He couldn’t stop his giggle as Martin growled. “Look! He can’t hurt us, and I’m assuming there is a high probability he can’t hurt you. In fact,” Priest could see Dirk motioning out of the corner of his eye at his hand. “I can see right this second that he’s thinking about hurting you and his brand is going off.” Martin was sneering in his face and Priest just grinned at him with a sadistic gleam in his eye.

“Trust me, Marty, you really think I would just be dodgin’ you and blockin’ you if I could hurt you right now? I still would love nothing more than to play with that little  _bitch_ of yours fer throwin me off the goddamn roof.”

“Hey! That’s my sister you ass!’ Todd called out in defense, Priest just giggled moving his head to the side with a giggle from Martin punching the freezer by his head. Making a nice dent in the stainless-steel appliance and getting a distressed noise from Dirk.  

“Now, can I drink my fuckin’ coffee, and make some eggs, I’m starvin.” He waited impatiently for Martin to let go, really would love nothing more than to punch him. But he knew he couldn’t- but hey, maybe screaming on the floor in pain would be enough of a display he’s not lying.

“Look! If you don’t believe me. Mr. Priest.” He slowly took his eyes off Martin to look at Dirk. “Hit me.” Priest blinked from that before rolling his eyes.

“No offense, Dirk, but after breaking Todd’s nose and feeling like I was burnin’ alive I think I’ll pass this little demonstration.” He could see the confused look on Martin’s face, which honestly was just entertaining. He smiled when the man slowly let go of him, he moved to go back to making his coffee, getting the creamer he saw in the fridge and pouring it into his coffee before adding sugar. Ignoring the others basically as Incubus kept talking about not being able to trust him. From the reflection he saw in the kitchen he could still see Amanda aiming that wand at him.

“So, can you see the brand or do you just feel it?” Priest finally asked, breaking up the back and forth chatter that wasn’t getting anywhere as he grabbed some eggs from the fridge.

“Smell it.” Martin finally answered as Priest set to work on cooking himself some food. He slowly glanced over to the man, curious what it smelled like to them. “It reeks worse than you.” He giggled from that while putting some seasoning on the eggs and placing the lid over the pan he was using. Turning to fully face them as he leaned against the counter crossing his arms over his chest.

“I don’t know, it actually smells pretty good.” Vogel ended up chiming in.

“Like a big buffet.” Gripps added. He watched them before his eyes locked on Amanda.

“Are we really not killing him right now?” Amanda finally asked in annoyance. Priest rolled his eyes from that as Dirk shifted still standing next to him. “He tried to kill Vogel! And he broke his freaking fingers!”

“Hey! Yeah! That hurt! He also tried to kill Boss!” Priest sighed while leaning his head back.

“Look, Miss Brotzman, I’ve heard you’re running around collectin’ projects on some mission.” He moved to tap his tattoo which was in full view thanks to him only wearing a pair of jeans. “I happen ta be one of those projects. Now, I knew when I opened fire on you and Jacob-”

“Vogel.” Basically everyone in the room except for the boy in question stated in unison.

“-Whatever- I knew I wasn’t going to kill ya. I mean it would have been totally fine with me if I did-”

“Oz.” Martin growled his name in a warning causing him to giggle from it.

“I had to shoot at ya to get you guys to go into the bathroom which lead to ya hidin in the tub, and right to Wendimoor.” Amanda looked skeptical but was lowering that stupid wand finally. “Without me ya’d still probably be sittin’ there tryin’ to figure out where the fuck to go.” He earned a glare from the woman and he just smiled while crossing his arms over his chest. “I ain’t gonna sugar coat shit. My ability brings Projects to their destination. I’m considered an ‘amplifier.’” Using finger quotes and everything. “That’s one of the reasons Blackwing decided to use me.”

“Use you? You love working for those monsters, Oz.” Could see Martin gripping the bat so tightly his knuckles were turning white.

“Mm. Yeah. I did.” He could see Martin’s eyes narrowing from the past tense. “Ya know… Until I told Bart to kill Ken and gave her a gun to do so.” He looked to the brand on his hand, eyeing it given he was still bitter over everything. “Now why are y’all here anyway?” He finally asked curious what they wanted until he thought of what Hugo said about them getting a new case tomorrow. He slowly looked over to Dirk who was beaming and his hands dropped instantly to his side.

“A new case!”

“You’re fuckin’ kidding me.” He stepped away from his eggs, the food now long forgotten about as he moved to where the Portal was when he came back to the apartment. “Hugo! What the fuck! Get out here!” He snapped the words, could feel the others looking at each other as he waited, the portal finally opened and Hugo just stepped out with a smug little ‘I told you so’ look. Priest grabbed him by his suit and yanked him closer. “I ain’t doin this.”

“You like… don’t have a choice.”  

“I remember you boy.” Could hear Martin growl out the words, and Hugo just leaned over to look at Martin and wave.

“Hi, Martin. Like… sorry about like… starving you… and shit. Like. I’m still like, getting used to how you guys like work? I mean I like know now. I know like everything now-”

“Hugo.” Priest growled the name getting the boy’s attention back. “Just take me back to your little universe place.” Hugo blinked looking like he was thinking it over before shaking his head.

“No. You have to stay and protect Dirk, Todd and Farah- Oh! I guess by extension the Punk Rock Vampires, the Alternate Universe Rainbow Monster. and Amanda too-”

“Fuck that!” He snapped the words just getting a small pat on the shoulder.

“It’s like…  _totally_ not up for debate Mr. Priest. And you like really won’t want to like… refuse again?” He glared from that, tightening his grip on him as he stepped closer and got in his face.

“I ain’t-” Pain, a large explosion of pain in his hand caused him to drop instantly as he fell to his knees and held his hand. Screaming from it, as he pressed his forehead to the ground and pulled his hand to his chest. Just getting a small sigh from the man above him. He could feel the sweat on his brow from the pain just burning through his nerves almost as bad as when he broke Todd’s stupid, fucking, nose.

“Do you like… accept your job now.”

“Yes! Fuck!” And just like that the pain stopped. He felt sick, he felt like he was going to be sick. He was already forcing himself to his feet. Gagging slightly as the others moved out of his way in shock, he shoved open the bathroom door, fell to his knees, and began puking in the toilet. The smell of eggs in the house just making him throw up more, heaving from everything as he trembled in the lingering pain. He gave an annoyed groan when suddenly a nightlight in the bathroom turned into a blanket that wrapped over him. His hand moved to flush the toilet as he sat there and moved a hand to pet the rather soft blanket on his shoulder. “Thanks Mona.” He muttered, feeling exhausted now, and really having half the mind to bundle her up into a ball and kick her out of the bathroom.

“Mr. Priest… are you okay?” He turned his head to look at Dirk with a glare, like this was his fault as he shoved himself up into a standing position. Pulling the blanket off and wrapping it around Dirk’s shoulder as he walked the boy backwards before moving to his bag. Just wanting to brush his teeth now.

“How long have you guys been working with him?” He could hear Amanda ask, still sounding annoyed. When he looked over, he noticed that Hugo was no longer in the room, but Farah was. And sitting with Amanda on the couch rather close to one another. Amanda even curled up against her side, he couldn’t help but be amused by that as he found his tooth brush and tooth paste and headed back to the bathroom.

“Well the case we were on was a few days, and then we had the road trip back home. He’s been surprisingly useful.” He couldn’t stop his giggle from that while rinsing his mouth out when he finished brushing his teeth. Walking out to lean in the doorway with an amused smile.

“Well, sure I bet it’s nice for you to work with someone competent for once.” He could see Farah rolling her eyes, but there was a hint of a smile on her face.

“I don’t like this.” Amanda finally stated and Priest just sighed, given he didn’t either but Hugo apparently wasn’t going to take no for an answer. “We can take care of ourselves, and you guys, we don’t need him.” She added, and honestly, he agreed. He had seen Incubus in action, he’s watched them take down hundreds of men without batting an eye. Priest finally shifted before looking to Dirk, eyes locked on him as he suddenly felt like he understood why he was needed.

“Who are we after?” He asked finally, watching Dirk shift while looking at the others. Martin actually growled at him from where he was perched on the back of the couch. But he didn’t let his eyes move off Dirk, knowing he would break and tell him.

“They-they aren’t actually involved with the case.” Dirk stated and Priest grunted not believing him considering what Amanda said about being able to take care of themselves. “They were just offering to help. And well, we were trying to discreetly tell them that we had it covered. What with the story of how Amanda threw you off a building and everything, we figured there was bad blood there-”

“Who ain’t he got bad blood with?” Martin snapped out. Priest just grinned as Dirk cleared his throat and touched the blanket that was still around him.

“Well… Mona, and Bart for starters… wait well now I’m curious how many projects actually  _like_ you?” Dirk was tilting his head. So easily distracted…

“Ignoring how many projects may, or may not like me. What is your case?” He asked feeling rather impatient about all of this. Dirk was shifting before stuffing his hands in his pockets and rocking on his feet while looking around the room. It was making him annoyed that he wasn’t answering, he could feel his eye twitch, jaw clenching as Farah finally shifted.

“A man showed up at the Agency and asked if we could find someone for him.” Priest slowly looked over to Farah, moving to motion at the file that was sitting on the table. “The Rowdy Three say they know him.” Priest walked over to pick up the file, eyes falling on Beast who was growling at him from her little space by the couch. He was curious how long she had been there, but pushed it aside as he picked up the file and opened it. Eyes landing on the name listed in the file.

“Who hired you?” Priest finally asked while looking to Dirk as he set down a file for Aodhan fucking Murphey.

“An employee of his. I think Blackwing took him from what he described.” He couldn’t stop a large grin from crossing his face. Starting to actually laugh at that as he moved to open another bag. Pulling out a gun and loading it ignoring how Incubus, Beast, and Amanda all got ready to attack him. He turned his head to look at them, a sadistic gleam in his eye.

“Let’s go take down Blackwing.” He stated with a rather strong determination. Only for that to falter as Dirk held his hand up like he was going to ask a question. “What?”

“I appreciate the whole… you know take down Blackwing thing but I feel there might be some teeny-tiny complications to this plan. One. We don’t know where it is. Two. Aodhan might not  _actually_ be there yet he could still be in the middle of being transported. Or maybe they have another location here they’re using as holding. Three. You only just recently have been taken off America’s most wanted. Four. Roscoe knows if he hurts me you get hurt, they could be setting up some sort of trap. This whole thing might be a trap, also they could be trying to use this to capture Hugo. Four. The most important one.” The boy was clearing his throat while motioning at the file. “The man in charge who took Aodhan might be Pete. I don’t know for sure but the description didn’t sound anything like Roscoe, and we know  _nothing_ about Pete.” Priest had been lowering his gun slowly through the whole rant to the point it was just aimed at the ground now.

“What’s a Pete?” Vogel finally asked while looking to Dirk in obvious curiosity. “Can we smash it?”

“See, Jacob’s got the right idea.” The use of the ‘wrong’ name was rewarded by Martin throwing his bat and hitting him square in the chest with it.

“His name is Vogel!” Priest grunted while glaring at the man and rubbing his chest where he was assaulted.

“God, I would love nothin’ but to shoot you right now.” Priest sneered at the man, getting a growl from Martin who stepped closer to him.

“Just try it Oz.” Honestly, that was all the convincing Priest needed to lift the gun again. Ignoring the tension which quickly died the second he got the gun pointed at Martin. The pain exploded so fast through his nerves he was on his knees with the gun discarded at his side as he clutched his arm to his chest. Crying out in pain as Martin actually laughed. Fucker. Should just kill him. But the thought was making the pain worse to the point he felt like he was going to throw up again. He could hear Dirk giving a soft sigh in annoyance before he felt that damn blanket once more draped over him as Mona insisted on hugging him in her blanket form again.

“What…” He was panting from the pain as he forced himself to sit up on his knees. Feeling sticky and gross from how much he had been sweating thanks to pain today. “What… exactly done you propose then?” He asked while catching his breath. The pain just being a lingering dull throb as he watched Dirk and waited for his answer.

“I don’t know.” He stated with annoying excitement and enthusiasm. Priest groaned while rubbing his forehead. “I mean maybe we could call Pete and see if he will hand Aodhan over.” So. Fucking. Naïve.

“Dirk… I don’t think that’s going to work.” Todd put it a lot nicer than he would have. He glared at Martin when the man walked over to take his bat back, the man leaning against the wall and staring at his branded hand.

“You guys see it too when it’s hurting him?” Martin asked while lazily putting the bat over his shoulder.

“Yeah! It’s big.” Jacob announced.

“Smells good too.” Gripps added while looking at his hand. Priest rolled his eyes while thinking on it, curious if they could actually eat the energy from the brand… if they could get rid of it from doing so. Probably not… and he doubted they would try given the fact feeding off him basically made the four of them sick to their stomachs and hung over.

“Tch, ain’t that just fan-fucking-tastic.” Priest muttered under his breath, hand moving to the wall as he forced himself to stand. Just leaving the gun on the ground. “What exactly do you plan on even saying to Pete? Hey, I heard you may or may not have snatched Aodhan, can you give him to us?” Dirk scoffed and rolled his eyes while crossing his arms over his chest.

“I would at least say Please and Thank You, not that you have them in your vocabulary.” Priest rolled his eyes as Farah rubbed her face.

“Why don’t we start off by investigating where Aodhan was grabbed, maybe someone else saw something?” Farah asked with a heavy sigh in her voice, obviously annoyed with Dirk’s plan.

“Okay… but what if… I have a really good feeling about this?” Priest couldn’t bite his tongue any longer, he turned to fully face the boy. Even moved forwards and grabbed his tie pulling him close and ignoring everyone else in the room as Incubus and Amanda got ready to attack him. Todd moving to try and get between them but he was easy to hold back with one hand on his head given the height difference.

“You just said you didn’t want to go to Blackwing because it might be a trap. And now you want to call four-eyes and tell him exactly what we want with some  _pleases_ and  _thank yous_  hoping he’ll just hand him over. Why don’t we just tie each other up and tell him our location. Do you even think when you open that big fucking mouth of yours or even pay attention to the bullshit that comes out of it?” He snapped the words in a dark tone. Grunting when he felt Martin pull him away in a sleeper hold. “God damn it! Marty! Let go!” He snapped the words, giving a pleased sigh when the blanket around him transformed into Mona who got Martin to stumble back in surprise.

“Stop it. And Mr. Priest.” He turned to look at the pouting girl who stomped her foot at him. “You’re being a meanie.”

“Well then tell Dirk his plan is suicidal.”

“I think his plan is very nice.” She stated defiantly while crossing her arms over her chest with a loud ‘hmph’. Priest wondered briefly if this is what going insane felt like, kind of wondering if he did actually die when he fell off the roof and this was literal hell. It would make sense, couldn’t die, eternal torment with people he hated and wanted to kill. “Besides, you talked to Pete last night. Why can’t we talk to him now?”

“You did what!?” Priest felt suddenly frozen from the words, not even looking at Todd who moved over to him again. “You are working for Blackwing behind us!”

“Enough!” Farah cut in, Priest was just staring at Mona, trying to think of how she knew, he thought she went home with Farah. Did she turn into something and come with them when he wasn’t paying attention? Did she sneak in while he was shopping, when did she get here? Everything around the room felt like white noise as he actually stood there, feeling like he was disassociating as everything went on around him. He slowly walked over to his phone. About to pick it up only for him to see the bat coming for him. He moved without thinking. Grabbing the bat and crushing it in his hand, watching it snap as he ripped it out of Martin’s hands and threw it through the opening and into the kitchen where he could hear a loud clattering and a sound of breaking. He stared at the man, small smile slowly pulling across his face as he started to giggle.

“He’s going to kill the only person I care about and you want to call him?” The others fell silent, and Priest could feel his hands shaking in anger from how much he would like to crush everyone in that room. “Dirk…” He turned to look at the boy, eyes locking on his face seeing a sudden look of fear on the boy’s face as he just smiled at him. Eyes dead as he tried to keep up with the sleuth of insults that kept accumulating in his brain.

“Mr. Priest-”

“You never understand, do you? Always that dumb hopefully naïve little shit you’ve always been.”

“Hey! Watch it!” Todd snapped and Priest ignored him. Because they didn’t understand.

“You don’t get it, none of you do… Except Farah, right? Or you on their side?” He looked right at her, not even noticing Mona had turned into a new bat for Martin. “The Universe, or the body it is inhabiting, doesn’t want to face him. And you just want to  _call_ him?” He was holding out the phone anyway. “He did say he felt like you and him could become friends when he inevitably forced his way into my life for disobeying. You want to invite him over now? I’m sure he’ll have everyone in this room on their knees in seconds.” He understood him. He got Pete. He knew how he worked and how he operated. He probably had detailed lists of everyone and everyone’s weaknesses in that damn book of his. He would bring this whole room to their knees and it would be both intriguing and infuriating.

_Because that was his job._

“Mr. Priest.” Dirk was just staring at the phone.

“Go on, Dirk.” He stated it as a taunt, just waiting but the boy didn’t move. No one did. “You want to talk to him?” He tilted his head. “To introduce yourself to the man who I have to listen to in order to keep the woman who let us go safe?” He could see Dirk’s gaze drop. “Take it.” He didn’t move though, he just nervously fiddled with his sleeve. “I said take it!” Snapping the words like an order, and Dirk was grabbing the phone from him quickly. Of course, this harsh treatment was rewards with Amanda  _punching_ him across the  _face_. And honestly, he just stood there for a moment, blinking in surprise as he stood up straight and put his hand on his cheek and looked to the smaller woman who was literally standing on the couch in order to hit him.

“Stop it!” She snapped the words and his eyes fell on her rather heavily, he reached a hand out to grab her. Filled with the intention to strangle the bitch only for his brand to go off mid reach, he yelped while pulling his hand to his chest. Stumbling forwards this time instead of allowing himself to drop back to his knees, he took in a deep breath while looking to Dirk with the phone that he was still holding in shaking hands as Todd spoke with him. Comforted him. Whatever other bullshit he was doing.

“I don’t care what you do.” He finally stated bitterly while heading for the door, slamming it shut behind him with a deep breath before heading for the stairs. Just wanting to get air, it was too cramped in there, and he was done with every person in that room.

—

“Dirk?” He slowly looked up to Todd, blinking when he realized Priest wasn’t there, he could see the Rowdy Three being… well Rowdy, as Farah worked on trying to calm Amanda down. He looked to the phone in his hands and then towards the door before looking back to Todd. Giving him a forced smile as he unlocked the phone in his hands and opened the contact list. “Are you really going to call him?”

“I just… I feel like I should.” He really did, it was a strong feeling to call him, he looked to the others who were giving him their intention. He took in a deep breath and slowly hit the call button, putting the phone to his ear as he shifted in his spot. Listening to it ring a few times before it stopped, he was holding his breath as he could hear movement on the other line.

_–”Y’ellow, you got an update for me already? Not gonna lie, Mr. Priest, I didn’t expect you to cooperate so well.”_  The man sounded amused, also nothing like how Dirk imagined a man who was supposed to be terrifying to sound. He ended up sitting on the couch with Todd right next to him.

“This isn’t Mr. Priest.” Was all he managed to get out, there was a laugh on the other end of the line.

_–”Only ever heard your voice through recordings before, Dirk Gently, correct?”_  He could hear movement now the sound of doors opening and closing. Dirk slowly put the phone on speaker and held it in his shaking hands.  There was something about this man that was giving him the creeps already, but he wasn’t sure what it was. He could see the Rowdy Three shifting as they looked to the phone in his hand.  _“What can I assist you with, Dirk?”_

“Aodhan Murphey… Well, I hope you can assist with that, anyway.” He was shifting setting the phone on his knees as he wiped the sweat off his palms and onto his slacks. Looking over to Todd who was shifting next to him when Pete just laughed on the other line.

_–”Aodhan, huh? But I’m having so much fun with him.”_  Dirk really didn’t like the sound of that. _“Dirk, may I speak to Mr. Priest?”_  He bit his lip while looking to the others before looking back to the phone.  

“He’s not here right now.” Wasn’t even sure if telling him that was the best thing but he didn’t want the man to try and talk with Priest instead. “I am more than capable of making my own affairs… Mr… uhh, what’s your last name.”

_–”Pete is fine.“_

“Alright, Pete, I was hoping we could come to terms with something. Blackwing keeps talking about how it wants to help the projects and things like that, however all you seem to be doing is capturing them-”

_–”Correct.”_ He didn’t even try to deny it, Dirk blinked at the phone.

“But… you want to help the projects-”

_–”Look, Dirk, we have had several changes in management. Scott Riggins, he was working on manipulating you guys to be personal zoo animals. Claiming to want to help you but really just showing you off to the big boys. Hugo Friedkin felt you’re dangerous and needed to be locked up. Ken… well Ken I don’t know what he wants, I don’t really care either, but so far, we have learned a lot about people like you. We only have eyes on the dangerous ones… Or did, until Mr. Priest decided to let all of the projects we had in our grasp out.”_

“Under the orders of the universe. Shouldn’t that mean anything? I mean you guys keep trying to lock us up but the universe keeps freeing us. Shouldn’t that tell you that what you’re doing is wrong? What Blackwing is doing is wrong.” There was a pause on the other line a long one that made Dirk feel like the man hung up for a moment. “Pete?”

_–”Sorry, had to mute for a second, don’t worry though I was listening. And I’ve decided I will meet you. Feel free to bring Mr. Priest with you. I’ll send you a location.”_  Before Dirk could protest the man had hung up on him. He looked to the phone for the moment and slowly rubbed his face.

“Shit.” He muttered under his breath feeling Todd lean back with him. “This is bad, this is so bad. I didn’t mean to set up a meeting with the guy.”

“You had that good feeling though right?” Todd was asking as the Rowdies shifted more before Martin started laughing.

“I say we stomp his ass.” He was grinning with the words and the other members of the Rowdy Three began howling and whooping in excitement. Some banging on and kicking over furniture, Amanda was just grinning while standing next to Martin.

“I mean one of them against all of us, shouldn’t be so hard.” Dirk couldn’t help but feel reassured from their confidence, looking to the phone that vibrated in his hand though he couldn’t stop from feeling frozen in place.

“He… The place he wants to meet… it’s the same place we had lunch when Blackwing took me away from you guys the first time…” Dirk stood up when he heard the front door open, quickly relaxing when it was just Priest… who looked un impressed while staring at the Rowdy Three eating a donut before stepping all the way in and kicking the door behind him.

“How’d the phone call go?” Bit of a sarcastic tone in his voice, like he wasn’t actually expecting them to call, he wasn’t sure how to respond to that.

“Well, Oz, looks like we’re boutta go meet that rat yer workin with.” Martin growled the words and Dirk watched as Priest actually looked frozen from that. Like he had to actually think about it as he slowly set that donut down like he was no longer hungry.

“We’re doing  _what_ now?” So much anger laced in his voice Dirk wished he could just disappear.


	13. The Glitch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Priest and Hugo finally agree on something. And that’s being disappointed in Dirk about this meeting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Characters** : Osmund Priest. Dirk Gently. Todd Brotzman. Farah Black. Martin. Cross. Gripps. Vogel. Beast. Pete Cook.  
>  **Warnings** : Violence. Blood. Amputation. Body Horror. POV Change  
>  **Note** : Y'all getta learn about Pete.

He hated this with every fiber of his being, sitting in the front seat next to Farah as Incubus followed behind them, he was staring out the window with an annoyed look on his face, just wanting everything to slow down for a moment. He didn’t like being tunneled into this meeting, it just didn’t sit right, nothing about this sat right. Pete has said after all he didn’t want the mystery trio to know about their dealings. And he blew it, he blew it because he didn’t know that Mona was listening to him which was stupid. He should have asked if she was with them, he should have known, but he was careless and checked in in the open instead of trying harder to hide it. He was at fault, and it was causing a disgusting anxiety ridden feeling to claw and scratch its way into his chest. He took in a deep breath and slowly let it out. 

“This is stupid.” Was all he was able to will himself to say, everyone in the car was pretty silent, he got the feeling somewhere that they also felt the same way he did. It was a weird feeling of dread hanging over them like they were walking into an execution. “If we’re doing this, I should meet with him without y'all.” Priest added, Todd scoffed at that and Priest elected to ignore it. He would ignore Todd’s little bitch fit about the whole situation for as long as he could.  

“Yeah so you can warn your new friend we’re coming.” This wasn’t his choice. He didn’t want any of this he just… well he wanted everything to be normal but it would never be normal, he was learning to accept that. But Todd acting like he wanted to be Pete’s lap dog was getting to him. 

“Todd… you don’t understand.” Farah said and he kept his gaze out the window when Todd leaned forwards. 

“Don’t tell me you actually buy that this asshole cares about someone enough to actually listen to him. He doesn’t even have feelings.” The man snapped, and Priest really wished he didn’t. There was a long pause and he peeked over his shoulder to see Dirk grabbing Todd’s shoulder. 

“Todd… even you know that’s not true from things we’ve learned about Mr. Priest, he just would rather stuff them down internally or let them out by shooting things.” Priest couldn’t stop his giggle from Dirk’s words. “I don’t think Mr. Priest would be working for Blackwing in his current predicament given the fact Hugo, his current boss, wants to destroy it… which how come you don’t get hurt for reporting to him by the way?” Priest looked to his badly burned hand, staring at the damage and letting his eyes trail down to the self-harm that was there before slowly setting it back down in his lap. 

“Hugo knew I was gonna run into him when I went out. He knew we would have this meetin’ says something happened there that was important and needed to happen. And that I can use Pete. I’m guessin’ that means he's gonna fuck up or somethin’ to tell me somethin’ useful. I ain’t entirely sure, I also ain’t sure what happened that was so important.” Other than the original discovery of the Crystal working from how easily he broke that mug. There was a long pause as Priest moved to fiddle with the radio in an attempt to find a good station. 

“What’s Pete like?” Dirk finally asked, he could have asked before they left, he could have asked before he left them alone. But no, the boy would rather ask while they were heading to the hyena’s den. He took in a deep breath through his nose before turning in his seat to look into the back. Watching Dirk trying to think of how to word it, he moved a hand to drum his finger on the center console in thought. 

“I’ve only met him in person once, and then we had a phone conversation. I can’t give you an in-depth psychological description of the asshole. I can give ya what I’ve picked up from small moments, fer one; He ain't a good person. He’s tall, taller than me, gotta be about six foot six… He wears bright colors, gold glasses, a weddin’ ring. I think he’s married but he told me he’s not. That it’s a tactic he uses to get close to people. Which can you believe that? Makin up an entire family and usin it to get under people’s skin.” He actually found it fucking brilliant but he would take that to his grave. 

“He smiles and acts friendly, but he ain’t. Keep that in mind.” A warning so Dirk wouldn’t try to make friends with him. “He’s strategic, and he’s smart, he uses a notebook that must have information on everyone in it because he pulled that out before going right for where it hurts. The real reason he's doin’ this.” Motioning around the car before turning to look back out the windshield. “Is probably to capture all of us. I don’t think he will ever hand Aodhan over unless we give Blackwing what they really want.” Priest added before looking back ahead.  

“And what does Blackwing want?” He figured that question would come up. 

“They want Hugo.” Pausing to let the seriousness of that to sink in. 

“Hugo can teleport?” Todd pipped in and Priest laughed. 

“We have a teleporter that’s a project, they found out exactly how to stop him from doin that, couldn’t get anywhere. It’s amazing actually when the scientists actually come up with shit that works. Could teleport all around the room as much as he wanted. But getting out? Nah. Not possible. Drugged him before they went into the room. Filled it with knock out gas and waited for a long time so they knew it fully kicked in before they would even attempt to open the door.” He clicked his teeth while looking at Todd in the mirror. “They know what they’re doing.” 

“What is it Blackwing is using you for, Mr. Priest?”  

“They’re using me to get to him under the guise of studying what my abilities are being used for you two.“ He looked at both Todd and Dirk in the mirror. 

"God, can you stop with the you ‘two' thing?” Todd interjected rather defensively. "I am not-“ 

"Todd, you’re a project, I could see it when I absorbed the crystal.” He snapped the words, not really having it in him to be polite… well not that he ever was… Okay… he just didn’t feel patient. 

“Mr. Priest… are you scared of this man?” The question sent a feeling of annoyance to flair in his chest. Was he scared? He stared out the window, now feeling like he had to think on that, he didn’t like him. He thought Pete actually had a chance to do what he wanted and with how Hugo had been acting with him before this. And even now… Maybe he was… the man found his one weakness and drove a nail straight through it with one swing of a hammer, that has never happened before. Last time he felt like this was when Scotty was being an asshole about his sexuality. He could feel the tension in the car building from the silence as he crossed his arms over his chest and sunk down in his seat. 

“I don’t fear him as a person. No.” But… “I am afraid he might actually win though.” And Priest hated to lose more than he hated his current predicament in life. “There’s something odd about him too.” He couldn’t put his finger on what it was though. “I don’t know how to describe it, but when I first saw him, I got this weird feeling." 

"Probably fear.” Todd stated and Priest just rolled his eyes while looking out the window. “I’m assuming you don’t get that feeling often.” Todd continued and Priest just rolled his eyes, because… well it was true, but still, he wouldn’t admit that he was afraid of the guy, he didn’t even know if that’s what it was. 

“Whatever, you guys letting me go in solo or not? I can handle myself I don’t know about all of you.” They stopped outside the restaurant and Farah gave a soft sigh clearly thinking everything over. 

“I don’t think we can trust him.” Was all Todd said, Dirk was being annoyingly silent just staring at the restaurant. 

“I don’t know if we have a choice…” Farah stated while looking to the restaurant. Priest glanced towards the van knowing they weren’t going to like this plan. 

“If Incubus fucks this up-” 

“Go, Mr. Priest, I’ll talk with Amanda.” Farah stated while moving to get out of the car. Heading to the van Priest got out and made his way inside. He spotted him easily, just sitting at a table, drinking a cup of coffee and sitting with that little black note book of his on the table. Pen scribbling across it Priest walked over to the table, grabbing the chair and moving to pull it out only for the man to look at him with a bored expression. 

“Where are the others?” He asked, Priest rolled his eyes when the man hooked his foot around the chair rung and pulled it back in. 

“Outside. I’m not lettin them come in here to talk to you. Where’s your little back up?” Priest sneered the words, hands moving to the table as he leaned over him, getting in the man’s face as everyone in the restaurant just went about their business like nothing was happening. 

“You tell them about me, but you won’t let them talk to me?” Sounding so amused now as he moved to take his glasses using his hot breath and the little white silk cloth to clean them. “You’re a very curious character Mr. Priest, I mean, I knew eventually you would break rules I set for you, but right off the bat? I feel like you almost want me to take Deshmukh at this point-” 

“No.” He stood up straight, clenching his jaw as he stared down at the man who slowly put his glasses back on his face. 

“No? But you went and told Miss Black about this so quickly.” He motioned between them, “And then you go and let Dirk call me. What all did you tell him?” Priest looked away, he didn’t even know how to respond. 

“Did you-” 

“No. Mr. Priest, why would I do it now? You  _only_ just broke one of the main rules I gave you.” He was smiling and he hated that he couldn’t get a read if that meant he already grabbed her. He could feel his fingers twitch, wanting to get his phone out. He slowly looked back to Pete who was taking a drink from his coffee and Priest couldn’t stop himself as he glanced towards the notebook. 

“Are you a project?” Pete laughed at the question, a nice laugh like Priest told a joke. He watched the man cover his mouth in a failed attempt to stifle the laughter. “What are you?” The man was pushing his glasses up slightly to wipe his eyes before lowering them back down. Catching his breath while pushing the pot of coffee over to him. 

“Mr. Priest. I’m just an ordinary man. Doing what I feel is right. And unfortunately for you, that includes keeping the Holistic Terrorist behind bars, where he can’t hurt anyone anymore.” He watched as the man leaned back while lifting the notebook up. “And really, who needs him, you want to know what he’s done with his Sixteen years of freedom?" 

“Funny, we always called him the Holistic Demolition Expert.” He stated the words back. Ignoring the question from him about what Aodhan’s activities have been. 

“Mmm, but they have so many names for you too don’t they? Holistic Bounty Hunter, Holistic Catalyst, think my favorite is Holistic Sadist… must sucks you can’t act on that huh?” He could see Pete looking at his burnt and scratched up arm. The one Priest shifted and stuffed his hand in his pocket despite how much it just burned to do so. “That’s the real reason you aren’t letting them in here, isn’t it? Because you think I’m going to hurt them to hurt you? But you don’t have to worry Mr. Priest, i’m not Roscoe, I don’t mind hurting you with my own two hands. In fact I cannot wait for the opportunity to do so.” Priest was grinding his teeth from that. “I won’t lay a finger on your toys. I just want to do business, that’s why we’re all here right? Business?” He watched as Pete stated to look towards the door. Smile growing on his face. 

And Priest knew exactly why as he could hear the howling and whooping from Incubus and the sound of breaking objects and car alarms. 

— 

Dirk could feel his presence before they even walked into the restaurant, he was dark… or his energy was anyway. He felt suffocating and he hadn’t even reached where Mr. Priest was. It was like there was a black smoke cloud in the air wrapping around all of them and waiting to crush him, felt like breathing in poison and debris making his chest feel heavy and breathing take effort despite there being nothing there. The Rowdy Three did their thing to get the customers out of the restaurant, to keep them safe from what might go down. And Dirk just continued to the large table Pete had taken, watching the man write something in a notebook and casually drink from a coffee cup. Ignoring the chaos happening around him till he slowly lifted his eyes to look up at him. The light reflecting off his glasses in an almost blinding way Dirk just sat across from him, and he was never thankful for Priest before until he felt the man lean against the back of his chair. 

Like a comfort. 

"Mr. Priest tells me he didn’t tell you about me?” Pete was tilting his head and Dirk moved his hands to wave them at the man defensively. 

"No!” Dirk was defending, watching the way the man looked to him with an amused smile while taking another drink of his coffee. “No, we found out because of Mona…" 

"Really? Cause I listened to him let Miss Black in on our secret, can I really believe that?” He mused out the words, could hear Priest groan from that and feel Todd and Farah sit on either side of him. “Oh, how rude of me. It’s a pleasure to finally meet you all by the way. You can call me Pete.” He held out a hand and Dirk hesitated before he slowly moved to shake his hand. It was a lot larger than his, and the feeling made him feel so small. And not just because of the height difference between them, but because Pete had this way of making him feel like a scared child unable to do anything. He extended his hand to Farah next.  

“Miss Black, this is a real pleasure, you’re very impressive.” Complimenting her as they shook hands before he put his hands on the table and just looked at Todd. “Todd Brotzman, I would shake you’re hand but you look a little stressed and I know I’m probably adding to that, and I would hate to give you an attack even with the Rowdy three here.” 

“He don’t smell right.” Martin chimed in and Vogel jumped up on the table causing Pete to grab his coffee mug so it didn’t fall. 

“No… no… what’s wrong with him boss?” Gripps and Cross were walking around the other side and Pete just lifted the coffee up to drink it. 

“Boy’s, best stay back for now.” Martin finally stated sounding on the defensive. Dirk slowly turned his head when he heard whimpering and noticed Beast hiding behind Martin’s legs and clinging on to his jacket. Like she was scared. Pete was laughing before he leaned in slightly. “Mona here too?” He asked with a grin. 

“Pete…” Trying to get his focus off Mona so he could explain to the best of his ability. “Mr. Priest didn’t… He really didn’t know about us contacting you… He left and I stole his phone to call you. In fact, he was very against this meeting." 

"And as you can see, they don’t listen to what I say.” Priest muttered earning a laugh from the man. 

“I just wanted to talk to you because of my new case, we want Aodhan and from the report we got we know Blackwing has him and since the description of who took him didn’t match Roscoe, I figured it might be you.” The man gave a small 'hmm’ while writing something down in his little notebook. Slowly closing it as he looked at the rest of the group that gathered around the table. 

“If you want Aodhan, you have to give me something for him.” He was standing and tucking his notebook into the inner pocket of his jacket. Dirk’s eyes were locked on the gun that was visible before he looked to the man’s face, could feel Priest shift behind him and he felt himself unsure what to say as Pete moved to pull out his wallet. Throwing some cash down on the table as they could hear police sirens in the distance. The man then produced a card and held it out to Dirk. “You can take your time to decide later, or, you can give me Mr. Priest now.” Dirk could feel his heart in his throat. 

“Take him now. Not like he even wants to be here, right Oz.” Martin growled the words, and Dirk wasn’t sure what to do as Pete just smiled from that. Knowing if they get Mr. Priest, they will probably get Hugo too, and then they would never see Aodhan. 

He quickly stood up. 

“No, no, we will talk everything over, thank you Pete.” Dirk stated with a nervous laugh, turning to put his hand on Priest’s arm as he started to push him towards the door. He looked back to see the man smiling, there was something about it that was giving him the chills. And it didn’t help that he felt like the light above him was going out. 

“Call me when you make up your mind, or just in general.” Pete sounded so amused, the rest of the group just looked confused. 

“I thought we were smashing him?” Vogel asked and Dirk just closed his eyes as Martin whistled to call his crew, Amanda on the other hand stepped forwards. Dirk froze as she aimed her wand at Pete, he could see the light of the crystal and moved to try and stop her but she already shot the wand off. He felt too scared to turn around and see what happened from the look of surprise on her face. From the chill he had cutting through him at the sound of Pete laughing from behind them.  

He slowly turned his head to see the man just standing there now pinned to the wall by his arm where the circle shape was. He continued to laugh and Dirk almost felt like he was going to be sick as he stepped away, could hear his arm hit the floor from where it was cut off. The man stumbling forwards and tilting his head at them. Dirk could see the way his body twitched as a hand began forming out of the bone that was sticking out of his shoulder, stretching and elongating and spreading out to where the arm and hand were long enough, they were touching the floor before it shrunk back down to size. 

“I was hoping you guys wouldn’t see this. But I figure you already know, right? Most of the projects know…” He kept his grin as he walked around the table, leaving black blood behind and his severed arm seemed to disintegrate into nothing as the man walked towards them. He could feel the shock and horror of everyone as he stopped in front of Amanda. He didn’t do anything, just slowly opened his suit which was now missing one sleeve. Hand reaching in to pull out his little black note book, and Dirk could see her arms holding the wand actually shaking as he opened it and flipped it to a page. 

“What- what are you?” Dirk flinched from the sudden glare he received before the man went back to looking at Amanda. 

“Amanda Brotzman, what do you prefer I call you? Amanda? Miss Brotzman? Drummer? Rowdy Queen?” He was tilting his head while staring down at her, Martin and the rest of the Rowdies circling the man, getting ready to attack him. Like they didn’t just watch him regenerate an  _entire arm_. “I’m waiting." 

"Fuck you-" 

"Amanda, then. Now let’s see here…” He cleared his throat while looking down to the notebook in his hand. “Oh, that’s right.” They all watched as he reached a hand out, gently touching her arm. And Dirk flinched when she screamed and grabbed where he touched like it had hurt her. Todd was at her side immediately and the Rowdy Three quickly began to feed off her to stop the attack she was apparently having. Pete was whistling as he stood in front of himself and Priest. The older man moving to shove him more behind him. Standing there like a protective wall, despite the fact Dirk could see how much he was hurting from how his arm was pulsing with that light. Watching it spread up his arm from Pete just smiling at him. “I still expect a full report." 

"Pete-" 

"She’s safe, for now, I’m not about to play your only weakness so soon.” Dirk could feel the man staring at him even with Priest trying to block him. Almost like the man was looking right through Priest. “I hope you’ll agree to give him to me, Dirk.” Pete grabbed Priest by the face and Dirk felt too frozen to do anything as the man forced Priest’s head to the side and leaned in, looking over his shoulder at him. “I have so many plans for the Universe’s new toy.” He was grinning, but Dirk could see something he didn’t notice before, the reason Pete’s smile unnerved him. It almost looked like he had more teeth than he could fit in his mouth.  

“Pete-” He closed his eyes when he saw Priest pull out a gun, could feel himself being knocked to the floor and a loud crash followed by an actual  _scream_. He slowly turned his head to see Pete holding Priest pinned to the wall. Holding him there as the man moved to grab his branded hand. Squeezing and twisting as his other hand was shoving his face into the decorative glass of the wall he was slammed into. He could easily see it cutting up the man’s cheek and around his eye-socket mainly focused on the brow. It took Dirk a moment to realize Priest’s feet weren’t even touching the floor. 

“Mr. Priest-” Dirk moved to his knees trying to crawl forwards only for someone to grab him and pull him away. He watched with wide eyes as the man just leaned forwards and took in a deep breath while resting his chin on Priest’s shoulder.  He could see the smoke and steam from his arm as he screamed in pain and agony, trying so hard to get off the wall with his free hand. He wanted to tell Pete to stop but the words weren’t forming.

“I forget you know… what it’s like to be helpless… I bet you used to as well, this must be such an eye-opening experience for you.” Dirk felt his blood run cold from the almost blood curdling scream Pete was getting out of Priest. Watching as the man looked over his own shoulder from the sounds of sirens before Pete finally released Priest and turned to leave. Dirk couldn’t move as he watched Farah walk around him to check on Priest who was still screaming like his brand was going off. He actually looked like he was writhing around on the floor too, Farah was trying her best to calm him down… He didn’t understand, everything felt like it was moving fast and so slow as the Rowdy Three eventually circled Priest. Watching them all look to one another before sighing and beginning to feed off him. 

“Amanda, are you okay?” Dirk turned his head to look at Todd who was sitting next to Amanda who was still crying despite clearly not having an attack anymore. Like whatever her attack was, was that traumatizing, Todd was trying to comfort her as Priest’s cry of pain slowly came to a stop. He turned to look back at the man who looked like he had passed out, but his arm was no longer full of light. It was no longer burning, he slowly curled his legs up and hugged his knees to his chest. Feeling a shiver run up his spine as he tried to piece together what all happened. Eyes following after Martin, who was already moving to pick Amanda up, carrying her in his arms as they headed towards the door. Dirk could hear Martin was talking to her but couldn’t hear what they were saying. Just the random gasps and sobs as Farah got the door for them. 

Gripps and Cross both had pulled Priest up, and Dirk watched as the blood ran down the man’s face as they carried him outside and towards the car. Todd was at his side then, touching him, hugging him, pulling him closer and he couldn’t stop crying as the man helped him up. As they walked over to the vehicles to make their next plan. Farah ended up joining the Rowdy Three and Amanda in the van and Todd drove the car, which was filled with an awkward silence as Priest shifted in the back. 

“Farah says we should go to the hospital.” Dirk slowly looked back towards Priest. Staring at the man while his mind continued to replay what happened with Pete. 

“Pete’s evil.” was all Dirk found himself able to say, he didn’t know how else to describe it. He always thought he had a great, understandable, concept of good and evil. Example, Todd was good, Priest was Evil. But now… now he was starting to feel like Priest was neutral. That he sat in the middle and that Pete was the very end of the evil scale.  

“Give me to him.” He looked back to Priest, eyes wide from how the man said the words, watching as he very clumsily pulled himself up into a seated position. Pulling his arm close to his chest he could see the new burns that covered it. “You-you guys get Aodhan… they get me-" 

"And the Universe.” Dirk stated bitterly, he hated this idea, especially with how quickly Pete was able to take Priest down. How he hurt Amanda like that so easily. 

“Hugo won't come for me.” Priest said it so flatly. “He understands what’s at stake.” Dirk didn’t know what to say, felt like Priest was accepting a death warrant right now. He moved a hand to touch the man’s arm only for Priest to bat it away. "Look, I’ll work on taking Blackwing down from the inside, Aodhan is clearly the tool needed to destroy that asshole. So, you do your holistic bullshit with him and I’ll do mine and hopefully if they have any more projects get them out. It’ll be fine.“ Dirk didn’t believe the 'it’ll be fine’ comment. But he didn’t have much to argue against. "Besides then we don’t have to deal with each other, and that sounds like heaven." 

"They’ll hurt you." 

"Oh yeah! Cause I’m so safe with you guys!” He was laughing while shoving his burned and cut up arm in his face. Dirk stared at it before looking out the window, hearing the man sigh in an annoyed fashion next to him. “Maybe that’s why I had to stay anyway.” He added. Dirk slowly looked over to him, he felt like he was going to cry, he didn’t even like Priest but he definitely didn’t want to hand him over to that monster. He moved his hands to wipe the tears out of his eyes looking back at him just in time to see Hugo appearing. 

“What! Are! You! Doing!?” The man asked while looking between all three of them. “Like, no really, what are you doing? What part of like… don’t interact, do you guys like… not understand?" 

"But… I had a good feeling.” Dirk said while looking at Hugo in his own defense. 

“Good… feeling…” Hugo blinked a few times before leaning forwards and rubbing his face. Priest watched him momentarily before turning more to face him. 

“Is Pete a project?” Priest finally asked, and Dirk couldn’t help but wonder if that’s why he had such a weird feeling about him. Even though it wasn’t the same like it was with other projects, it wasn’t an unspoken familiarity feeling. It wasn’t something he could physically feel as a bond like he did with other projects, it was just… wrong. 

“No. No, he’s not a project he’s… Like… okay so there’s like a whole bunch of like other things the Universe makes right? They all kinda sorta like sit on top of one another. And sometimes there are ways that like things can cross places they like shouldn’t. But you see there’s like this place… which isn’t… good? But it’s like one of the things we have the trouble with the most. Like uhmmm, one of the reasons the Universe made tools? If that makes sense?” 

“He’s something the Universe made… but doesn’t want?” Dirk asked, trying to think if he was getting this right. 

“Yes! Yes, exactly. Okay so like… Aodhan. Here we go! Okay Aodhan is designed to kill these things when they walk through the door." 

“What… what door?” Dirk asked now confused about where he was getting this. It was getting a frustrated noise from Hugo. 

“Red door, Big one, can’t miss it. Anyway, back to what lives behind the red door-” 

"Pete… he’s one of these things?" Dirk was trying to stay caught up with this. 

"He’s a-uh… a glitch! There we go, that’s the word I was looking for.” Laughing to himself like he was proud of remembering that which caused a little smile to cross Dirk’s face… which didn’t stay long when he realized this probably wasn’t a good thing. 

“Like how Aodhan is a glitch?” Dirk looked to Priest with sudden interest before looking to Hugo who was shaking his head. 

“No… like… not how, like, Blackwing considers things glitches, he’s like the real deal. He got out like so long ago, we kind of forgot… about him?” Dirk didn’t understand how someone could forget something like that. “Even tried to use him once to kill Ken before we sent Bart his direction… But like… Uh… he shouldn’t be in this universe. He should be locked up with other glitches."  

"Then why did I get a good feeling to interact with him?” Dirk finally asked. 

“Maybe that’s part of his glitch? Drawing others too him, but like look… it’s just… I like… hate you all… like so much… right now honestly. Like, what the actual like fuck?” Dirk felt suddenly defensive. 

“Hey! I was following my good feeling that’s what I’m supposed to do!” Feeling like he wanted to cry again, actually he was crying again. “And then… and then he… Mr. Friedkin I’m sorry.” He turned back around in his seat hugging his legs to his chest as he started to cry, heavily. He could feel a hand on his shoulder from Hugo and another on his knee from Todd. He slowly moved a hand to hold Todd’s while continuing to try. “I don’t know what to do, I couldn’t do anything. I’ve never…” He trailed off while crying harder. 

“Look… Aodhan like… deals with glitches… you guys really shouldn’t engage Pete, especially now that he doesn’t have to hide what he is… and gosh like… you guys not only like engaged in like just conversation, but like Amanda totally cut his arm off.” He was rubbing his forehead, and Dirk found himself unsure what to say in the current situation. Priest on the other hand apparently did have something to say though; 

“I thought you knew everything?” Sarcasm laced heavily in his voice. 

“There are like a lot of different paths to take. Like uhhh, you could have not talked to him. You could have like totally ignored me and talked to him anyway, like you did. You all could have left, you all could have watched him leave, but like… no. Instead you like totally engaged with him. Like you guys don’t get how serious glitches are.” He sounded so stressed out while looking at them. “I like… I cannot engage with him, okay, like I couldn’t do anything." 

"Wait… is that why you made Aodhan?” Dirk finally was able to get some words out between the tears. 

“Aodhan, is designed specifically for them! Duh! I like totally said that!" 

"What would have happened if I left with him?” Dirk looked to Priest, wondering if he was asking for himself given he planned on leaving them so they could get Aodhan back, or if he was asking just to know how things could have been different. Though knowing Mr. Priest… he was probably asking for himself. 

“You do not want to go with him.” Hugo said in a voice that echoed through the car. 

“Dirk needs Aodhan, and to get to Aodhan Pete wants me. So, once more, I’m sacrificing myself for these assholes before you burn my arm off.” Hugo was moving. He blinked when the man leaned forwards and grabbed Priest’s arm. 

“Stop the car.” He grunted when Todd did as asked, the second he put the car into park Dirk watched with surprise as Hugo and Priest vanished from the car. 

“Well… we pissed off the universe…” Todd stated bitterly while getting out the car, Dirk sighed before following as the Rowdy Three pulled up behind them, Martin leaning out the window. 

“Why we stoppin?" 

"Hugo took Mr. Priest!” Dirk called out to him watching Martin sit back in the van before kicking the door open. Dirk watched as they walked over to them, noticing the Rowdy Three actually seemed pretty hyper especially from Vogel more or less running in circles.

“You guys okay?” Dirk asked blinking a few times and Martin sighed while leaning his head back.

“For now… we hate feedin’ off Priest but…” There was a pause in Martin, he watched how the man shifted while putting the bat over his shoulder that was actually Mona. “He is uh… he’s like a drug. Only feed off him normally if we know we will get enough energy to get away before the crash.”

“Crash?” Dirk suddenly found himself interested.

“Yeah… it’s…” Martin seemed like he was having a hard time talking about this.

“It’s bad!” Vogel yelled while jumping up on their car and even jumping up to the roof with a laugh.

“Real bad, makes me so sleepy. Could sleep forever.” Gripps added in and Dirk turned to see Amanda and Farah getting out of the car as Beast climbed up to join Vogel.

“So why do it?” Amanda asked while leaning against the car and lighting up a blunt. Ignoring Vogel and Beast who were playing some sort of King of the Mountain game on the top of the car.

“I hate him, and he’s dead to me but… he’s still my brother.” Martin growled the words, which really was hard for Dirk to imagine since they were so different in so many aspects.

“Amanda… what was your attack?” He watched how Amanda moved to touch her arm where Pete had touched her.

“That sick fuck was  _eating_ me.”

— 

Priest blinked as he ended up falling out of midair right on his ass in plain of existence Hugo decided to live in. He sat there for a moment before getting up and turning to look at Hugo while dusting himself off with an annoyed glare. The man was just pacing back and forth before turning to look at him, pointing a finger at him angrily like he was about to talk before just closing his eyes and dropping his hand to his side. Standing up straight, entire stance and demeanor changing right before his eyes as he moved his hands to straighten out his tie. There was a dead look in his misshapen eyes as he felt like they were boring into his soul. 

“Osmund Priest, if you go with the glitch you will be subjected to pain and torture." 

"You said I needed him.” Priest stated under his breath getting an actual eye roll from what he was assuming might be the actual universe talking to him. 

“We didn’t mean for you to want to go with it. The Glitch is from a dark place full of things that only want to kill the tools of the universe, the Glitch knows what Aodhan is which is why it prioritized hunting him down, and that is why Dirk was hired to save him.” Priest blinked at him, the realization of the words suddenly becoming clear as he looked at Hugo’s husk of a body that was bending to the will of another, watching as he stepped closer to him. 

“He won’t give them Aodhan.” Hugo came back in a flash, the light once more returning to his eyes, the stoic face turning into a large grin as the man stepped even closer and grabbed him by his shirt pulling him closer and nodding his head eagerly. Priest took in a deep breath before slowly letting it out. “It’s just to get me to get to you.” He added with irritation that that’s all he was, a pawn to be played with and broken till they could get what they want. 

“Exactly! Like… gosh… I’m so glad you can be smart. I was like, super worried there.” Priest sighed while leaning his head back. 

“What should we do then?” He blinked when he was instantly transported back to the group, Hugo releasing him to turn to Amanda, Beast and Incubus. 

“You all like need more projects for this mission. You six… you need to, uh, go back to like collecting like you have been planning. Dirk, your like, uh, current case will totally lead you to the like key member you need for uhm… for taking down Blackwing. I don’t want to like give too much away but you will find someone that is like, totally, more prepared for this. While you six find another person, who can help you take down all the soldiers you’ll run into. Once you find these people, I will help you again. Until then please like don’t let Mr. Priest get captured.” And with that he was gone. 

“This means you won’t go with Pete?” Dirk asked in actual excitement, Priest rubbed his forehead, fingers sliding along the scar and feeling his own forehead creases before he dropped his hand to look to Dirk. 

“Pete’s not actually going to give you Aodhan if we attempt the trade, it’s a facade to get his hands on me so he can get his hands on Hugo.” He stated while looking towards the car. 

“I worry about Pete being a glitch. He must have been the reason I got that good feeling to call him, Hugo even kind of confirmed that. What if he ruins the investigation?" Priest moved a hand to touch his face, feeling the blood on it he slowly pulled his hand back, his arm had hurt so much he didn’t notice how bad he was actually injured.

"I’ll deal with Pete if he comes into the picture again. No matter what you’re the priority so I’m going to keep you safe.” Priest stated while moving towards the car just wanting to lay down in the back only for Martin to cut him off. He rolled his eyes while looking up at the man, curious what the hell he wanted now.

“I still don’t trust that ya ain’t workin with that thing.” Priest gave a heavy sigh.

“Wow, you found me out, I totally preplanned that after your little bitch cut his arm off that he should burn my hand and cut my face up with glass. Wow, I’m amazed, Marty, used to think you were so stupid.” Sarcasm laced heavily in his voice.

“What were ya talkin’ about before we showed up?”

“I was making sure that Desh was still okay and he hadn’t carted her off to torture her after framing her. You remember Desh, right? Think she always liked you.” Growled the words while shoving him to the side. “Now if yain’t mind, I have glass to pick out of my face.” He snapped while pulling open the drivers side door and sitting down, pulling the mirror down and leaning in to work on slowly prying the small glass fragments out of his cheek and eyebrow, lowering the window to throw them out onto the street.

“Drummer, what was your vision when we were feedin off ya?” Amanda shifted and Priest just continued to pull the glass shards out till he felt like they were all gone. Finger gently running over the cuts just to make sure he didn’t miss any as he leaned in closer to the mirror.

“Oh… It moved really fast… I remember someone in a hood, there were bugs…” Priest stopped immediately to look over towards her. “A sign, Welcome to Chicago sign…” Priest slowly opened the door and got back out.

“Know what type of bugs they were?” She moved her hand to measure how big it would have been.

“Looked like giant grasshoppers to me.”

“Plague Locusts…” He started giggling from that while crossing his arms over his chest, wincing from the feeling of his shirt sticking to the new burns on his arm mixed with the excruciating burning feeling from his own body heat against them. “Looks like the Universe is taking you to Abaddon. Her real names Skylar if that helps you, she’s a good person, just has what she calls a curse.” He shrugged from that, he watched as they shifted in their spots before actually circling to talk about things. Eventually Amanda pushed through Incubus and walked over to him.

“Whats her ability?”

“She has a symbiotic relationship with a swarm of Plague Locusts that carry a plague worse than the Black Plague. She specializes in getting rid of weird illnesses before they reach catastrophic levels. Sometimes that requires Triage of killing everyone who’s sick. Sometimes she’s able to get rid of the illness before that, other times she has to make the hard call. She’s gonna like you fuckers if that’s what you’re worried about.” He added on getting a laugh from Martin. “Might want to get a bigger van, that Swarm lives on her.”

“If anything happens to them, I will personally kill you.” Amanda added while heading back to the truck, Priest watched as the bet Martin was holding turned into a doctor which immediately walked over to him. Recognizing it as the same person Mona used to patch him up last time.

“This is no good, I’m just glad it didn’t ruin your nose. I need medical supplies immediately.”

“Mona?” Priest leaned in closer to his doctor. “Can we do this when we got home instead of now?”

“You’re bleeding badly.” She stated while crossing her arms over her chest. “I would rather get the bleeding to stop now.” Priest glanced up in time to see Amanda and Farah kiss goodbye before they got in their van to drive away.

“I can get the bleeding to stop, I promise, Sweetheart.” Giving her a little wink and earning a small sigh before Mona turned into a Nervous Pete Doll which he caught while heading towards the car again.

“I’ll drive.” Farah announced and Priest just once more climbed into the passenger’s seat.

**Author's Note:**

> PRIEST'S CREW; 15 – down to 10 thanks to Panto  
>  **BOSCO** – Male. 45. Pretty boy. Like super pretty. He is too pretty and doesn’t deserve it. He likes to hurt people for fun and is the type of person you would not want to meet alone in a back alley. Also has terrible posture and thinks everything is an annoying chore if it doesn’t end in someone crying. He ended up on Priest’s crew and has stayed with him ever since. (Even followed him to Merc work when Blackwing closed.) FC: Ben Barnes  
>  **MASON** – Female. 42. Bad ass, very smol, very feisty, can kill someone with a toothpick. She looks up to Priest a lot and worked her way to get onto his crew through manipulation and hacking skills back in Blackwing's old days. Is the type of friend who will kill for you without you asking her to. FC: Maggie Q  
>  **POOLE** – Male. 28. Picked him up while doing merc work. Since Hugo was too stupid he never noticed that Poole wasn't part of the CIA and he already was technically working for Blackwing before Ken took over so the kid was able to stay. He's the youngest and teased for being the baby of the group all the time. MEME SLUT. He will keep people up sending them memes. Snapchats a lot and is probably snap chat famous. He likes to pull pranks and thinks he’s hilarious. Sometimes he is. Probably gets himself punched in the face once a day. FC: Jesse Williams  
>  **SULLIVAN** – Male. 40. Sullivan is actually kind of a mute, honestly, he hates to talk. He is the happiest when he gets to kill people. And he's also from Priest's original crew. He doesn't seem to care one way or another how things go and has always seemed like he got caught in a bad situation with them before and just decided it's too late to check out of it now. 10/10 assumes everyone's last names are actually their first names. Because of this Priest now no longer is sure if Sullivan is his first or his last name... perhaps it's both? FC: Abbas Jafri  
>  **FLETCHER** – Female. 30. Also picked up during merc work. Every weapon she owns is pink. Will kill someone if they break her nail. Eyeliner always on point. She’s called a Princess for a reason but she won’t hesitate to kill a man. Will kick anyone’s ass and has a thing for shooting kneecaps and cutting tendons. FC: UNKNOWN - https://d28vr35rno8k21.cloudfront.net/images/3QCA0XbBBMzGrnDZ53GGEYiBX4LsVBMmZd4Ad2YcJmL9ID97VzDOLrFwAsNdpv6WXWuzFFviR9y7eG7Y3ZM9bjuWGcwxVnpW_tattoo2.png  
>  **DESHMUKH** – Female. 52. DESIGNATED WINE MOM. Deshmukh is actually someone Priest has mutual respect for. He’s known her from when he was still a project. Desh is also one of the only people in the group Priest will look to if he's not 100% sure how to approach something given he respects the experience she has in the field. She's also the official right hand of the group despite the fact she will usually stand back and watch the others do things she should be doing because she likes to make sure the others learn and grow as well. Also, has been happily in a relationship with her wife for twenty-five years. FC: Salma Hayek  
>  **JEAN** – Male. 38. Jean was only in Blackwing on Priest’s crew for a couple of years before it shut down. He tends to stay quiet and work by himself more than with others. Is usually sent out to scout ahead and message people back with information. He’s the group sniper. FC: UNDECIDED  
>  **KRAMER** \- Female. 46. Kramer is a troublemaker. She doesn’t follow rules, she’s constantly getting reprimanded for insubordination. She was put under Priest to attempt to eliminate that. Which she will listen to him, however, she will not listen to anyone but Desh and Priest. Everyone else she still has attitude with other people being authoritative over her. FC: UNDECIDED  
>  **FIALA** \- Male. 43. Likes to hurt people, he’s a sadist that worked well with Priest and ended up staying on his team after the Diamond incident. FC: UNDECIDED  
>  **POPE** – Female. 44. Pope is a nickname she received that she decided to keep. She actually is considered the nicer one of the group. She’s from the south and a lot of the times she and Priest’s accents feed off one another and they both get thicker the longer they’re together. She’s very service oriented and takes care of her team thus she’s also called the groups ‘Saint’. Don’t let that fool you though, she’s as twisted as the rest of the crew. FC: Cassandra Martin  
>  **RONDA** – PROJECT VALKYRIES – 55. Ex-Military. Owns a Private Security Company called Valhalla. It’s actually a Mercenary company under the guise of private Security. She ran it before she was taken to Blackwing and then went back to it when she got out. During Blackwing’s shut down she actually personally went to Osmund Priest and offered him a job. She’s one of the crueler parts of Project Valkyries, she has more bite than bark and tends to use her Military training to her advantage. FC: Courteney Cox


End file.
